Leader of the Eastern Titans
by Dai-Nightcore
Summary: Our favorite group of Seekers have come back from another encounter with the Organization and they are then sent on an adventure to the states to find a set of Amulets that if were in the enemy hands, would mean catastrophe. Joining them will be an unexpected guest and with them they will hope to find the Amulets before the Organization. (Zhalia X OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything but for my OC and some parts of the story.**

 **Chapter 1**

 _Casterwill Mansion, Venice, Italy_

Lok and the gang were all resting up after their last battle with DeFoe in their respective bedrooms hoping to catch up on some sleep to prepare themselves for the next day.

Most of them were still in bed when they smelled food from the living room and every one of them grudgingly pushed themselves out of bed to go get some breakfast. However, when they arrived they had expected a chef in a white outfit cooking them breakfast, not a beautiful woman in light brown sweater humming to herself making an omelet.

She had glossy auburn hair reaching past her shoulders that had tied into a neat ponytail with a black hair tie. Dressed in a pair of black jeans she flipped the omelet easily onto a plate and turned around to find four sleepy Seekers and a flying titan flapping his wings with some difficulty. Her face had a heart shaped to it and had very little make up to enhance the already beauty that was present

She smiled gently at the group and asked, "Hungry you all?"

Lok was about to reply with a question but Dante cut him off and answered most of their questions with a couple or so words. "Oh Elizabeth. I was wondering when you were getting here." He said as he walked up to her and gave her a kiss on the lips.

He turned towards the group and introduced as she waved smiling, "Guys this is my wife Elizabeth."

As normal as this was for Dante, everyone else was having trouble keeping his or her jaws off the ground. They had never seen Dante show this kind of affection towards anyone nor did they know that Dante had a lover at home.

Lok was being Lok, which was being dumbfounded and started asking questions left and right while Elizabeth giggled at the scene in front of her. Sophie acted like a noble woman and started introducing herself while shaking Elizabeth's hand, whom she returned kindly. Cherit flew around Elizabeth's head excitedly introducing himself by doing some aerial tricks, which the latter returned with another wave and smile. Zhalia however was a different case. While she introduced herself coolly, which the latter said a kind hello, she felt something inside her break into pieces. While looking at Dante having his arm around Elizabeth, she felt a fire in her stomach kindle out as she sighed dejectedly and made her way to the table to where everyone had already seated and digging in to the feast.

"How come you've never told us you had a wife Dante?" Lok asked with a mouthful of eggs and bacon. Sophie elbowed him in the side to remind him that there was something called table manners. Sophie had eggs and pancakes while Zhalia just had toast and tea.

Dante sat down with a cup of coffee and said obviously with a cheeky smile, "Because you never asked."

Sophie, like the diligent woman she is, asked broader questions like, "How did you and Dante meet? What was he like when you met him? What made you marry him?"

Elizabeth giggled while covering her mouth with her right hand as she answered kindly, "Well I met Dante when I was an exchange student from the USA back when I was in college going to England to study for my medical degree." She put her finger up to her lips and looked up thoughtfully, "He was to sum it up …. a playboy."

Everyone sweat dropped while Dante spewed out his coffee to side. He was about to retort until his wife cut him off, "Oh don't even lie Dante. You were constantly after every girl that caught your eye and if I remembered right, I was the only one that refused you. I still remembered almost every day when I walked to and entered the coffee shop you were always there ready to say something."

"Wait if he was constantly annoying you what made you like him?" Sophie asked confused while Lok nodded agreeing and even Zhalia decided to listen closer and carefully to the story. Most women would think of Dante's behavior as one of a stalker but apparently, Elizabeth was quite different.

Elizabeth started while holding onto Dante's hand softly and said with a longing sigh, "Because every year since I was in England for my college studies he was always there. Every day for 2 years until I decided to give it a shot and go out with him. So after 3 years of dating he proposed to me on Valentine's Day. Which reminds me it's almost Valentine's Day, so our anniversary is coming up." She remarked as she touched her nose with Dante's.

She looked at their reactions which varied from shocked, happiness, and longing before continuing, "And so we had our marriage back in my home in Colorado and me and Dante agreed that it is better for us to stay apart because of his line of work and my job as a nurse. And so that's how we met."

They nodded and chatter started up again while Lok and Sophie explained how they met Dante as Zhalia excused herself to go take a call from her "relatives". She closed the door behind her to her room and went to her suitcase to retrieve the satellite phone that Klaus had given her.

"Hello Zhalia, my dear are you there?" The voice rang on the other side of the call.

"Yes father?" She asked expecting another mission for her to complete.

"Yes Zhalia, if my suspicions are correct then you are about to embark on one of the most important missions ever."

"Father, what's the mission?" She asked although fully knowing it was for another Amulet as she leaned against her bedroom wall.

"I do not know where you will be going but the mission is to collect Amulets of course. But not just any Amulets." He paused for a minute to let his words sink in before saying four words that shocked her.

"The Oriental Guardian Amulets."

She widened her eyes at the Amulets names.

According to legend, the Oriental Guardians were one of the strongest Amulets due to many of the artifacts possessing the strength of Legendary Titans with one of the hardest safeguards known to Seeker history. Apparently, the test was so great that even the First Seeker chose not to wield them. The philosophers of the Eastern Hemisphere forged the Amulets themselves, according to her knowledge, and the Amulets themselves were not only Rings and Amulets but also other items such as swords, bracelets, etc. The power was so great that the philosophers sealed all of the Amulets they made away in a giant chest that was lost in time.

"So the chest that contains the Guardians is in a place that I'm going to next?" She asked for clarification while pacing around her room. Although she already knew the answer to the question and was already planning her supplies inside of her head.

"If my suspicions are right then yes they will be in the area of your next mission. I trust you can handle it my dear." He answered.

"I will do as you say father and I will not fail." She said obediently but faltered as she thought of her friends. She lingered on the thought of Dante before banishing him from her mind. He had a wife so there was no need for her anymore is there.

"Good good." He said back satisfied.

As she started to hang up, she heard Klaus say something.

"Oh and Zhalia my dear."

"Yes father?" She asked, not knowing what else her father needed.

"Do come home every once in a while, it gets quite lonely here and I figured the next time you're home we could go into the woods and look at the stars like when you were a little girl." He said in a fatherly tone and she could have sworn that she heard a sigh on the other end.

 _Flashback start_

 _Klaus's House_

 _An innovation or some random junk that Klaus picked up during his free time occupied an old house situated in a suburban neighborhood with not much furniture for every available space. The wallpaper was a dull yellow and in some places was paint was peeling off slightly but it was still home to her. The house was quite small but what made it different was that Klaus managed to turn his basement into his private laboratory and in there was where the magic happened._

 _8-year old Zhalia was watching her father tinker with spare parts for his next invention for the Organization and she was BORED._

" _Ugh fatheeeeeeeer." Zhalia moaned while resting her head atop oh her arms that was on the same table as her father's inventions. She had been watching her father work for hours and it had finally taken its toll on her. She didn't have anything else to do because being homeschooled meant that she didn't have many friends other than her father's associates that will watch over her from time to time. Even then, they didn't play with her._

" _Yes Zhalia dear?" He asked patiently without looking away from his work._

" _I'm boreeeeddd." She moaned._

" _Well what do you want me to do about it?" He looked at Zhalia with an amused look._

" _I wana do something." She sighed while banging her head on her arms._

" _You know what Zhalia?" He asked her while rubbing his imaginary goatee. He could do several things actually to keep Zhalia busy while he worked but when he looked at the time, he settled on one that meant the most to him as both a father and a scientist._

" _Zhalia my dear?" He asked while looking at her and catching her attention._

" _Yes father?"_

" _After I'm done here what do you say we go for a walk?"_

" _A walk? But that's also boring. I wana go flying like those people on TV and I wana go to China and eat their delicious food." Zhalia said with an excited expression as she thought of doing those things._

" _Ah but this isn't just any walk." He said as he finished and started cleaning up._

" _It's a very special one that you've been on once." He continued as he looked at Zhalia with a loving smile that she returned with a confused look._

 _Flashback end_

"O-f course father, next time." She said tripping over her words because she still shocked by his response.

"Good Good. Now take care of yourself and good luck." He said finally before hanging up on the phone.

She placed her phone back in her suitcase, as she was still curious from her father's request. It was unlike him to act this way, wonder what's wrong with him?

She heard Lok calling her name from the living room as she was thinking of where she would be head to find Legendary Titan Classed Amulets. Her suspicion point to any of the Eastern Countries due to its origins.

She walked in to the living room and saw the Holotome display the face of Guggenheim on the projector placed on the opposing wall. Dante and Elizabeth were on the loveseat, holding hands and exchanging stories of their adventures. Lok was standing and crossing his arms while waiting for Gugenheim to continue with the debriefing while Sophie was on the couch with the same purpose. Cherit of course was flying around the living room looking at everyone and making a comment there and there.

"Ah Miss Zhalia, you're here. Good now we can begin with the debriefing." Gugenheim observed as he continued.

"Now we have news from our Seekers from the United States of America Branch of the Huntik Foundation saying that they have reported something that must not fall into the Organization's hands."

He paused to make sure he has everyone's attention before continuing,

"The Oriental Guardian Amulets."

Everyone but Lok and Elizabeth gasped or eyes widened in shock.

"Wait the orientation what Amulets?" Asked Lok confused as he looked around at everyone curiously.

"No Lok. The Oriental Guardians are one of the most powerful Amulets ever made and from legend-"

"Most of the Guardians are Legendary Class Titans with many special abilities that make other Titans look pale in comparison." Zhalia continued in Dante's place. "They were so strong that not even the First Seeker could wield them. Most Legendary Class Titans came with a condition that either the Amulet of Will was present or a ritual happens at the same time that summoning happened. If not, the summoner would be placed under a powerful curse that will kill them in just an hour."

She said which made Lok pale to the point that his skin could've given milk a run for its money. She continued while sitting on an armrest with her arms crossed,

"However, the condition for the Oriental Guardian Amulets are different than the ones for Legendary Class Titans. Instead of having the Amulet of Will or a sacrifice, they have to pass a test to see if they are worthy or not. If they are the Guardians will bond, if not." She looked at them solemnly,

"They die instantly."

Everyone grimaced at the idea while Lok just covered his mouth while turning green.

"I think I'm going to puke." That was all they heard from him as he ran outside to do what he said.

"Anyway, the Amulets were just legends and supposedly a myth just to lead the Organization astray from more known Amulets. Isn't it?" She asked curiously but in her mind, she already knew the answer.

'Ah as expected out of two of my most elite agents. Well the answer is both yes and no. It is quite true and only a selected few knew the truth. But enough of its reason of existence, our friends in the West have found a bamboo scroll lost in a museum and it was written in Old Mandarin which no one really speaks anymore but our other friends in the East managed to get it translated into this." He said as his portrait moved to the right as an unfurled scroll written in Chinese showed and then and exact copy appeared right next to it but it was in English this time.

The scroll itself was three columns of faded Chinese characters and what looks to be various Titan symbols in neat rows on the sides of the characters. At the bottom of the scroll, three symbols were present, as if the symbols were signatures signing off on the scroll. One in the middle was easily a distinguishable a Chinese dragon face. The one to the right looked to be three circles in a tri-clover but as they looked closer, they saw that they were intricate flowers resembling something Zhalia had seen one time when she was in her travels. The one to the left was hard to tell but was eventually decided as a turtle shell with an octagonal center with its vertices connecting to the ones on the outside of the shell.

Sophie, being the bookworm that she was, walked up to the English scroll and read,

 _To those who seek us_

 _Keep in mind the test you must pass_

 _For it may be your last_

The ominous felling that came over the room at the words. Back when they went on trips to retrieve Amulets, they had never had the risk of death before the mission unless it's from one of them touching the cursed Amulets. Now they did have their near death experiences during the missions but this was much newer to them.

Guggenheim cleared his throat to clear the rather awkward atmosphere, "Now the reason why Miss Elizabeth is here because the scroll was actually found in her home town and you know what they say, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Realization dawned upon everyone's faces as they figured out where Guggenheim's intention just as Lok wandered back in a little sick.

"Your mission is to accompany Miss Elizabeth back to her home in Colorado and scour the area for the lost Oriental Guardian Amulets."

 **A/N: And that's a wrap guys.**

 **So, this is one of my very first fanfictions and I'm going to explain a bit of it before I sign off.**

 **This will not be a Zhante fic just to clarify things. It's not like I dislike the pairing but I believe that the community needs more than just like 2 favorite set of pairings, so yeah.**

 **The I tweaked with the Amulet lore a bit just to make the story go along a bit smoother and made some of the character's like old man Klaus a bit more fatherly than the more scientist type.**

 **This will be a Zhalia x OC fanfic but I have not decided when I would put the actual fluff between them in the story.**

 **Finally I need you guys help to make this story come along faster. PM me ideas, write reviews, send me advice; I'll take all of it because I want to improve myself for the better for the community.**

 **So this is DaiNightcore signing off and keep on listening to Nightcore guys.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:I do not own anything but my own OC's.**

 _Denver International Airport in Colorado_

They had arrived at their destination after almost 12 hours of non-stop flying and they arrived to members of the American-based Huntik Foundation with their names on tablets. They then checked in with security and what not before going to their transportation, which were a few black SUVs with tinted windows ready for them. They shivered as they rushed into the SUVs in order to escape the jaws of winter that was in Denver right now.

After securing all their bags in the trunk, Dante had a few words with the driver about their destination and after the driver nodded in agreement and making a few calls, the group was well on their way and out of the airport. The trio of SUVs drove without sound but they made sure to catch some scenic routes along the way combined with billowing snow coming down on them hard.

While they drove past buildings that slowly changed into trees as they moved into the suburban district Dante looked back and said with a convincing smile,

"We're almost there guys."

The group felt the car stop suddenly so they had figured that they have arrived. Everyone got out and almost marveled at the sight before them.

The Victorian-style house was at least two stories high with a large yard that housed several plants and other living things. There were flowerbeds with almost every color that you can think of and a great oak at the right of the house and it was huge. It had to be almost 40 feet tall with a massive trunk to boot.

The house had a white exterior with a maroon roof and bright windows stretching across some areas. The chimney was puffing out smoke to signify that wood burning to heat the house from the frigid outside temperatures. It looked from a distance not that bad of a house to settle down in from most of their perspectives.

They had retrieved their luggage and started towards the door after bidding the driver a goodbye. They stopped in front of the door, but before Elizabeth could even open it the entrance swung open to reveal an older couple wearing matching winter sweaters.

The man had on a red sweater that had a cup of a steaming drink and a pair of slacks fitted with a pair of plain brown slippers. He had a combination of white and dark hair to signify that he was well past his prime. He had a welcoming smile and his arm around his wife's shoulders. On his hand was a gold ring with a single diamond to mark his loyalty with the woman right next to him.

The woman had on a plain white blouse with the top covered with the same sweater that her husband while wearing a pair of white leggings and slippers. She had the same gentle on her face that Elizabeth shared with the auburn hair and the smile.

The man said with a light chuckle, "Well, well. What do we have here? Welcome back Elizabeth, my daughter."

He wrapped his arms around his daughter in a great hug before looking at Dante.

"Ah Dante. How've you've been my boy." After giving him, a man hug and then the other woman came up to both Dante and Elizabeth and gave them a quick peck in the cheeks.

"Oh my dears, how I have missed you both." She cooed as she gave them both a motherly hug. She looked at the rest of the group and saw Lok, Sophie, and Zhalia standing in the snow awkwardly.

"And you've brought friends." She said before going up to each one of them and giving them a very warming hug.

For Zhalia, who never knew what a mother's touch felt like, froze up a bit before slowly coming into the hug. In her life, very few people have hugged her like Klaus and a few of his trusted colleagues.

When she let go, the woman saw a tear coming from Zhalia's eyes and asked worriedly, "Oh dear, why are you crying?"

"Oh it's just that my eye itches. Sorry." Zhalia responded quickly before wiping the lone tear from her face with an unconvincing smile.

However unconvinced the woman was, she left it to a later time and introduced herself along with her husband waving, "Hello dears. My name is Catherine Williams and this man is Thomas Williams. But you all can call us Cathy and Tom."

"My name is Sophie Casterwill." She said with small bow. "It's a pleasure."

"I'm Lok Lambert." He said with a nervous smile and wave. "Nice to meet y'all."

"And I'm Zhalia Moon." She said shyly, which was very unlike her, and shook both of their hands.

"Oh you dears must be freezing, come on in and have something hot to drink." Cathy fusses over them as they pull their luggage in and enter the home with shivering bodies.

As they entered through the door, they saw the house well furnished and pictures framed the walls with what seemed to be Elizabeth when she was younger. They hanged their coats onto the coat racks and then looked towards the kitchen as they heard a several loud clatters coming from the kitchen with a muttered shout.

"Ðit me."

An Asian guy came out of the kitchen wincing while clutching his left arm side. He was about 5'11 and was a bit on the stocky side with tussled black hair. He was wearing a sort of butlers outfit with the inside vest and sleeves rolled up as if he was cooking dinner not too long ago. His face held a slightly pained expression with a pair of glasses to go with it.

"Mr. and Mrs. Williams I thought we had agreed that I would be the one to open the door to greet the guests and that you would be rel-" He started but stopped when he saw the new arrivals and straightened up with his hands behind his back.

"Miss Elizabeth, welcome back." He said, kindly smiling as much as he could while quickly looking over the guests.

The man that stood close to Miss Elizabeth is probably her husband. The one in the skirt looks like one with a noble background judging from her posture while the blonde one just looks like your average dude tagging along with friends. However, the dark haired one with bangs peaked his interest. He couldn't read her expression compared to the other 2.

" _Must be shy."_ He thought before turning to Miss Elizabeth to accept a motherly hug from her with a chuckle because she had to tip toe just a bit to give him a full hug.

"Everyone, this is Quoc and he is the current helper around the house for my parents while I'm gone while on trips. He'll also be preparing our dinner for tonight so get ready because his cooking is fantastic." She praised while pinching his cheeks and cooed him like a child.

"Miss. Please. I'm not that good." He replied with a scratch to his head while turning red due to embarrassment from all the praise that his boss was giving him.

"Nonsense."

"Also." Elizabeth started before pinching harder. "How many times have I told you to stop calling me miss."

"Ahh mis-"

She pinched harder to the point that you could almost see red marks appearing on Quoc's face while pouting.

"I told you it makes me feel old."

"Well you all can be the judge of my food after you've let me go cook Elizabeth." He pleaded while trying to remove her hands. She may look gentle but she has the gripping power like the Jaws of Life he swore to god.

"Ah sorry about that Quoc." She sheepishly removed her hands and called out to him before he went back into the kitchen after giving her a quick bow, "Oh and bring some hot beverages for us."

"Right away miss."

Elizabeth ushered them and her parents into the living room to sit down while waiting for refreshments.

"So what was his name again? Guck? Guacamole? Quick?" Lok asked while settling down on the warm and plushy couch.

Elizabeth started laughing hard after Lok's question. So hard that she thought that, she was literally dying when Quoc brought in tea and hot coffee on a tray. He set the tray down and started handing out various types of coffee to a different person. For Tom and Cathy he had prepared plain black coffee while everyone else received a china cup filled to the top with an expresso. What was neat about the expressos was that the couples had a heart drawn in milk for them while everyone else has had a cool fern. Zhalia was confused when she saw everyone got their drinks and questioned where hers was.

Quoc then got the iteapot and poured out a serving of light green tea before handing it to Zhalia carefully. She looked at him curiously while he chuckled nervously while scratching his head,

"I thought you were kind of a tea person so I prepared a batch. O-f course if you don't prefer it I can always make you an expres—"

Zhalia tuned him out as she took a sip of tea and when she did, she breathed in suddenly while turning a hue pink. The tea was a perfect balance of bitterness and sweetness with a mixture of other kinds of teas coming into her mouth. She had been all over the world and she tasted many teas. She even tasted a thousand dollar tea! She was sure of it. It was perfect. It made her forget what reality was for a second and just sat there. The feeling that she had was as good as sitting in a beautiful luscious green forest just to enjoy the environment. Just enjoying the taste of the tea on her tongue for a min as she smiled genuinely for the first time in who knows how long. Before long, she looked down at her cup and saw that it was empty. She looked back up at Quoc, who started smiling and asked, "Another cup?"

"Ye-ss please." She tried to keep her cold demeanor but failed due to the taste of the tea.

Quoc chuckled at her response before pouring her another serving and then started towards the kitchen. Not before saying that dinner would be ready in 10 minutes.

"Hmm this coffee is quite good." Quoted Dante before taking another sip and voicing everyone opinion at that point as he looked to the kitchen where the helper had entered.

"Yes, Quoc's a very good person when it comes to helping people. If someone needed help or if I told him to do something, he will complete it without fail and then some." She praised as she clasped her hands together.

"But why did you hire him Elizabeth? Surely having to pay for a butler costs quite a lot." Sophie inquired.

"Oh no he doesn't need much paying because we also provide him with board and house and we give him enough just to let him do what he wants. Sort of like an allowance, if you want to look at the way he gets money. Moreover, I was worried for my parents due to them getting old and I'm not always around to look after them worried me. Anyway, I found Quoc and he said he was looking for like an apartment complex to stay at while he did his classes. When I met him, he was helping my mother with feeding the birds at the lake because I was taking them out to the park for some fresh air. One thing led to another and then poof. Quoc was staying with us and helping wherever he could." She finished before taking another drink of her espresso.

"Well that's nice of you Elizabeth, to help both yourself and others." Lok said with a milk mustache on his face. Everyone paused for a moment and then just started laughing heartily. What a good time they had, what a good time they had indeed.

"Dinner is served mis- Elizabeth!" Quoc yelled from the dining room and correcting himself.

"Well we must be the judges to see if your helper is really what he says he is huh honey." Dante said while helping his wife up and the whole group switched to the dining room.

What they saw and smelled made them think that they were in an authentic Asian 5-star restaurant.

The table was set with fine china and crystal glasses with wine and soda in the cabinets ready to use. The feast consisted of large bowls filled to the brim with steaming white race and platters of seasoned and cooked meat atop of platters of fresh vegetables. Plates of cooked fish and shrimp sat near the meat, as if asking the eater to choose their favorite. Plates of spring rolls, eggrolls, and sauce littered the table and in the middle was the main course, which was a fully cooked pig. It had to be almost 5 feet long with its skin reddened from the cooking process and seasoning.

This had to be the most authentic Asian dinner they have ever seen. Well for just for Lok anyway because everyone else had been exposed to Asian dinner before..

Everyone was taking in the scent when walking to a chair to sit down and eat the feast before them. Dante, being a gentleman that he was, pulled out his wife's chair for her to be seated, which she thanked him for as he took the seat next to her. Sophie and Lok pulled their own chairs while Zhalia went to the other side to sit down at the last chair. However, before she could pull out her chair she felt it pull out by itself. She looked behind and saw Quoc pulling it for her. She sat down while he said sheepishly, "A girl shouldn't pull out her own chair."

She muttered a small thanks before digging in after seeing everyone starting to eat.

She ladled some rice into her bowl before settling on what seemed a cooked Yellowtail fish drenched in a sauce with peppers and garlic. She bit into the small piece that she had picked off with her fork and she thought she had died. The skin of the fish was perfectly crisp and the inside was soft to the point that it almost melted in her mouth. Combined with the sweet and spicy sauce that gave it a strong flavor was almost too much for her. She picked up a small portion of rice and sent it into her mouth to meet with the fish.

It was so good that she had finished both sides of the fish and almost two bowls of rice with it. She hiccupped suddenly and blushed red from it. Looking around hoping no one saw but the hiccups still continued. She looked around and she heard a solid clunk in front of her. She turned and saw another cup of tea but it was a more light brown than green. She looked up and saw Quoc put a finger to his lips and say quietly, "It's for the hiccups."

She was shocked that he came up with a remedy so fast even though she just caught the hiccups. She watched as he dealt with everyone else like getting refills, replacing empty plates with new ones, and even cutting up the pig. It amazed her that he could do all of this while even noticing that she caught the hiccups. She shook her head of her thoughts, took a sip of her tea, and marveled at the taste. It was warm and the sweetness took her by surprise.

As she finished the cup rather quickly, she soon realized that she didn't have hiccups plaguing her anymore. She looked at Quoc strangely, as he went from person to person, fulfilling each of their individual needs with a smile and slight nod or bowl. She didn't understand him at all. How he could have as much energy as he does now, running from person to person, doing what they wanted. She thought of it for so long that as she picked up her fork she saw that the plates taken away and desserts coming through the kitchen balancing on several trays. While she was sad that she never got to try all the dishes, she was quite curious about dessert.

Desert consisted of a few kinds of exotic flavors of ice cream and some kind of white, yellow, and clear sludge in a cup. She took a cup of purple ice cream and it was…different. It had a sort of bitter taste to it but at the same time nutty with a hint of vanilla. Intrigued, took a pink one thinking it was strawberry but it had a much sweeter taste than usual strawberry had. She saw looked around and saw Lok shoving several mouthfuls of ice cream down his throat as Sophie tried to tell him to stop but failed to control his table manners. Dante was feeding Elizabeth with a spoon while Tom did the same to Cathy. She looked at the sludge distastefully before looking at Dante try a spoon of it and continued to with a content sigh.

She gave up and placed a spoonful into her mouth before almost gagging. It was so slimy that she had to force it down her throat. She was about to push it away before having the sudden urge to try more. She gave it another shot and this time she could actually taste it. It was a refreshingly warm with sweetness and the sliminess wasn't as bad. She finished her cup before pushing it away and rubbing her full stomach. She would have to watch how much she ate if she wanted to keep her slim figure. However, honestly she had many surprises today to where even a veteran like her couldn't understand.

Zhalia shook her head as she rose with everyone else to go find a room in the big house. She went up the stairs and looked for a room at the far end of the hallway with an attic door in front of it. She found door and opened it with the key Elizabeth had given her.

She found a plain bed with a quilt blanket for a cover and several other types furniture like the dresser, nightstand, and a small desk sat in the corner. What made it more recognizable was the big window with a small ledge that people can sit on to enjoy the outside view.

She found her luggage already set atop the bed thinking that Quoc had brought it up for her as she went to unpack.

Quoc was to say, in her opinion, weird. In the eyes of a normal person, he might just a normal hard working person trying to do his best in his line of work. However, she knew that there was something up with him. No one should be able to brew up a cup of tea the second after she hiccupped while servicing six other people. She shook her head before heading into the shower and undressing before taking a nice, long, hot shower.

Feeling refreshed, she changed into a pair of gray sweatpants and dull white T-shirt. She retrieved her phone to dial her father that she arrived. If it wasn't for the enormous storm outside that is, her call would've made through. She huffed with frustration and replaced her phone back to it's previous hiding place before slipping into her bed.

 _An hour later_

She couldn't sleep. She literally could not sleep. Reason why is so bad that the other would laugh at her if they were to see her.

"Gurg-gg-ll-e." Her stomach rumbled quietly. She covered her face to try to stop the eventual blush that came over her. She was a grown woman for god's sakes. She shouldn't be acting like this. She was no longer that small and hungry girl by herself in the alleyway waiting for something to happen.

She hit her bed quilt in frustration as she tried to stop the rumble in her stomach. She had figured that if she found out how that heavenly tea was made or find some leftovers, it might calm her nerves down a bit. She grumbled in frustration before climbing out of bed and opened the door slightly to see if anyone was awake at the time.

After confirming her suspicions, she sneaked down the stairs to the kitchen and she entered the kitchen to find it spotless and soaked in moonlight. All of the dirty dishes cleaned and put away into the cabinet. Glasses hang from wall stands and pans scrubbed down to the point where you could see your reflection on it were set inside cabinets. Everything was in place for their next use by a person to cook whatever they desire.

She continued her search before settled on several small tin containers by the teapot that had brewed her tea. She opened the first can that she saw to find, from she can smell, green tea. She shook her head confused, checked the other tins, and found other kinds of tea like, oolong, jasmine, black, coconut, and even pecan. She shook her head before rummaging through the other tins before a light turned on and she jumped while holding two tins to her chest and found Quoc by the light switch.

Quoc still had on his earlier attire but without the bowtie and his top collar was open as if to allow for some breathing room.

"Oh hello there." He asked genuinely confused. He hadn't expected anyone to be down here as he went down for his nightly cup of tea. Usually, he would make himself a small cup of tea and then quietly make his way back to the attic to his room.

She quickly hid the tins behind her back and managed out, "Umm I'm looking for the bathroom and I found the kitchen instead. Sorry about that. I'll just leave you to your business." As she made her way towards the door.

"Oh no its fine. But would you care to join me for a cup of tea?" He put his hands up as if to stop her and to state his offer.

"Hmm…. I'll take you up on that offer." She replied while leaning on the counter as she casually replaced the tins behind her back.

He clapped his hands together and said, "Great! Just give a few minutes and it will be done."

She went to sit down at the small table as Quoc went to the corner that held the tins of tea and she heard him murmur, "Hmm. I swear I put this tin here and this one somewhere else."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat, hoping that he didn't noticed that it changed because of her.

"Must be my imagination."

She let out a relieved sigh as she looked at Quoc's back as he prepared the tea. She looked at him curiously, as he worked. He peaked her curiosity back when he said that she looked like a tea person. Granted that she was, she waved it off as a lucky guess but curiosity came by again as he responded to her hiccups creepily fast. All of this happened when he attended to everyone else. Either he's a really good butler, or there was something that was different about him compared to everyone else.

She pondered all this as Quoc sat down a steaming cup of tea down for her and for himself as he sat down on the opposing chair.

She picked up the cup with both hands as she blew it to cool down while Quoc looked her while waiting for his cup to cool naturally. She then drank it and it was still the same heavenly taste as before.

Suddenly, her stomach growled again and then two things happened. One, she turned bright red and started to try to stammer out a response. Two, Quoc raised an eyebrow, let out a small chuckle before getting up, and started rummaging through the kitchen fridge. He pulled out several containers, propped them near the stove, and started cooking after bringing out a pan.

He looked over his shoulder and said, "It'll be done so just sit tight, k?"

She just looked at him shocked for the very few times in her life. She didn't need anyone cooking for her and she's gone to bed hungry before. No one has showed her this much kindness aside from her father and Dante, who did on a few occasions.

 _10 minutes later_

Before her was a mini-version of the feast that she had hours ago. She had a hand-sized bowl of rice and there were bowls around her with small amounts of Asian food inside of them like meat, fish, etc. She looked at him expectantly and all he said with a kind smile was, "Dig in."

She was half-tempted to devour everything in front of her but being aware of her current surroundings; she decided to eat how she normally would.

As she ate and savored the meal set before her she took a glance in front of her and saw Quoc staring at her. It wasn't a creepy kind of stare but it showed kindness and the care that you wouldn't get from a normal person.

She waved her hand in front of him to catch his attention.

He jolted in surprise and nodded sheepishly, "Ah sorry about that. I'm just a bit tired, that's all."

Even though she was unconvinced, she finished her meal and allowed Quoc to clean up her dishes with relative ease.

After trying to convince him to let her do the dishes but seeing as how he magically finished them in a few minutes, she started to the door with a full stomach and her mind at peace.

However, before she left, she turned around and asked the question that has been bugging her mind since he showed up.

"Why?"

"Pardon?' He looked up from his cup of tea to answer her question.

"Why did you cook for me? Why are you being so nice to me?"

"Ah. That." He paused for a bit before finishing his tea and went to the dishwasher.

"My mother always said that women were to be treated with utmost respect. If they weren't, the future would be very bleak for both off us. However, my view is a bit different from my mothers, but very similar." He assured her with a look.

"Women, in my opinion, are like cats. Cats, they demand respect, but more importantly trust. You may think you gave them everything, but you actually didn't. Without trust, you will never truly understand a cat and be their companion." He said with finale as he replaced the washed teacup atop of a tray.

She just stood there taking in everything Quoc had just said. The guy was all just weird to her. Many acts of kindness that were for her but came with strings attached. Some of those strings gave her a constant reminder to reject any more in the future. Nevertheless, the guy in front of her made her rethink her values to where she almost changed them. A faint blush came to her face as she turned around to cover it.

"Well ok then. Goodnight." She said before walking back to her room as she heard a faint goodnight from the kitchen.

She arrived in her room and she slipped into her bed feeling content. She laid for just a few minutes before smiling unknowingly.

" _What a weird kid."_ She thought before falling asleep with a full belly and a gentle smile on her face.

 **A/N: And that is that. I'm thinking of updating maybe 2 times a week but can change because I do have a life. Again thank you guys for coming by to read my story and any suggestions to improve can be voiced in the reviews and/or PM me. I do not own anything except for my OC's and etc.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I do not own anything except for my own OC's and ideas. All rights and reserved whatever goes to their respective owners.**

 _The next morning_

Zhalia had woken up to a wonderful smell wafting around the house as it entered her room and it smelled delicious. Thanks to years of undercover spy missions, her trained sense of smell singled out eggs, a variety of vegetables, and a decent variety of spices.

She got out of her bed and dressed in her usual clothes before making her way down to the breakfast table. When Zhalia got there, she saw quite an amusing sight.

Lok was again shoveling eggs into his mouth while Sophie was trying to teach him some proper table manners while at the same time enjoying her meal, which was a small ham and egg sandwich. Cathy and Tom were having some kind of soup and bread. Dante and Elizabeth were both eating freshly made salads. Cherit, having come out of his mini-hibernation, was snacking on a breakfast sandwhich while floating above Lok.

Then there was Quoc running around servicing everyone to his best ability. He was in his usual butler-like outfit from yesterday and he was moving back and forth from the kitchen to the table. He balanced plates of food on his arms and hand that made him look like a comical act from a circus.

He looked towards her and flashed her a smile before he said, "Oh good morning."

She replied with a small smile and a wave of her hand suprisingly before settling down on a chair and asking, "I'll just take a cup of tea and toast please."

Quoc nodded as he went into the kitchen to make her desired breakfrest, Zhalia tuned into the conversation that Dante was starting on the subject of the Oriental Guardians.

"Alright, now onto the subject of the lost Amulets." He said as he pulled the Holotome out onto the now clear table, courtesy of Quoc. Dane pressed the power and pulled up a hologram of what seemed to be a museum.

"This is the museum that the scroll was found in and our first spot to look for clues on the Oriental Guardians." He continued before moving the hologram around to locate the entrance.

"This is where we'll be entering and we'll also be meeting up with members of the Huntik Foundation to help with our search. The Foundation has also managed to close of the entire museum for the day to make our life a bit easier." He said while finishing his coffee.

"Wow. The Huntik Foundation can do things like that?" Lok asked, surprised.

"Yes Lok, they can, and much more." Dante said before excusing himself to make a couple of calls.

Quoc came to her with a plate of toast and a cup of that heavenly tea. The toast wasn't just normal toast though, it had a light-green dotted spread atop of it to match the tea.

Zhalia took a small bite out of a corner before continuing on taking more bites to where she had finished the entire piece and moved onto to the next one. The slim figured Seeker managed to devour piece after piece before she ended with long gulp of tea. Zhalia sighed in content before looking behind her and seeing Quoc smiling warmly.

"I'm guessing you enjoyed it?" He said with a small chuckle.

She changed to her cold demeanor and said nonchalantly, "It was alright. I was just hungry."

"Sure." He said with a smile still on his face. He took out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and moved towards her. She was about to retort before she felt the cloth go across her face picking off crumbs from her face. She stood shocked for a bit before realizing her situation and smacking Quoc's hand away with her face sporting a bright red blush and grabbing him by the collar.

"What are you doing?!" She retorted with eyes of fury and embaressment on Quoc. Everyone looked at her but she didn't care. All she wanted to know why he had put his fingers onto her.

Quoc had a look of shock on his face before nodding his head in shame and apologizing,

"Oh I'm sorry! You just had something on your face and I didn't want you walking out with a dirty mouth."

Zhalia resembled a gulping fish at this point, as she was a loss for words. For once in her life someone had her tongue, hypothetically speaking of course.

She looked around and found everyone staring at the scene. Dante himself was smirking at her while Elizabeth was just covering her mouth to cover her giggles. Lok and Sophie were just staring at her she had grown a second head. Tom was giving her an amused chuckle while Cathy gave her a worried look. Cherit was still enjoying his sandwich, unaware of his surroundings while snacking on a perfect breakfest item.

She shook it all off and released Quoc from her grips as she turned towards the door but not before looking over her shoulder.

"Just don't do it again." She stated before grabbing her cloak and winter gear from the rack from last night and exiting the house.

Quoc looked at Elizabeth and Dante before asking nervously,

"Did I do something wrong?"

Dante shook his head and assured him that he did nothing wrong before heading out with Elizabeth in tow and Lok and Sophie following. Cherit flew past him and gave words of encouragement while also assuring that it was just Zhalia being Zhalia.

Quoc sighed before cleaning up the plates of breakfast. He looked at the half-full cup of tea from Zhalia's breakfast before dumping it in the sink. He hummed a little tune to himself as he worked silently with the sound of running water evident.

He was just trying to be nice. But apparently politeness and personal space don't fit in the same category. Quoc didn't always believe back then when he was younger that nice guys finish last. However, over the years he started believing it more and more as he grew up. Over time, he had no time to spend hanging with friends and more time in his studies due to his father pressuring him to go to a good college.

While he did get accepted into one of the top universities in country, there was an option of staying close to campus but taking the class itself online for students who wanted to study at their own pace. He took the online option but of course he never did things through. While he did have money to spend on living expenses and others but he had no reliable constant stream of income. He thought of it as he walked through a park towards the campus to register himself when he saw old woman feeding the animals while sitting on a bench. So Quoc took a seat next to her, stuck up a conversation, and then boom. From one subject led to another to the point where he was offered a place to stay on the condition that he worked for them. He had a nice place to stay at with good pay to support his tuition.

Quoc grabbed his jacket from a stand at the front door before looking around for his wallet. He grabbed it from a cupboard and told his master's parents that he was going to go on a grocery run before heading towards the supermarket.

 _Museum of Ancient Artifacts_

A black SUV pulled up to the front of the building and out came Dante, Elizabeth, Lok, Sophie, and Cherit flew out but was forced to go back into Lok's bag in the meantime due to weather. They entered the main building and was greeted by 3 people who they assumed were the Huntik Foundation from the American Branch. They all had on suits and could easily be mistaken for Organization member if not for the fact that they didn't wear sunglasses.

The man in the middle was about his mid-thirties and average height with dark ear-length hair. He had on a black tie and from his posture; he was easily be seen as the leader of the trio.

The other guy on the right was about the same age but with blonde hair instead of black and sported a happy expression. His face defined youth at its prime so he easily could have been mistaken to be younger.

Surprisingly, a female agent too on the left had on curious expression as she appeared to be squinting at the group that had just entered the building. She had dark hair reaching past her shoulders and was trimmed just right.

"Dante Vale?" asked the leader of the trio.

"The current legend of the century." Dante said with a smirk while the rest of the group shook their heads at their leader's maturity before he explained it was a way to identify the group.

The leader in black nodded before walking up to the renowned seeker and gave him a firm hand shake.

"I'm Special Agent Morgan Brown of the American-based Huntik Foundation. These are my co-workers. " He started before turning around and introduced, "Special Agent Claire and Special Agent Nate."

Both of the latter stepped up and shook hands with Dante before returning to attention behind their leader.

"My group will be the one helping in your search for the Oriental Guardian Titans before they fall into the Organization's hands."

"Much appreciated Special Agent Brown. Shall we begin?" Dante thanked before gesturing towards the large double glass doors that led into the museum. The leader nodded before also nodding to his two colleagues and Dante's group entered the massive building.

The group entered the storage facilty of the past and Dante's party marveled at the sheer size of it. A massive staircase was was placed in the far back that led up to another level and paintings from different time periods decorated the walls. Several large hallways that led into different eras surrounded the reception desk with a few large statues along the way. A massive dome filtered the light a bit as it passed through to illuminate the massive halls.

"Wow." Lok said, voicing eveyone's thoughts as he admired the amount of history in front of him, "This place in amazing!"

"It sure is, they didn't have a place like this back in Europe." Cherit said in his nasally voice as he flew around the top of the dome before looking out to admire the view.

"I'm sure that there's a museum in Europe that's close but I doubt that there's as many though." Sophie said as she discarded her winter wear onto the empty reception desk as everyone else did the same.

"Well we didn't come here to admire the view boys and girls. Special Agent Morgan will show me the inventory while the rest of you split up and look for any kind clues related in any way." Dante said and everyone nodded before going off to complete their respective tasks.

-X-

"This place is still amazing though. Look at all this rich history gathered from all over the world." Sophie said as she, Lok, and Cherit walked through a section that was dedicated to Middle Ages.

"I know right? Some of these things I've never seen before and I traveled with my dad when I was younger." Lok said as he stopped to tap a suit of armor that belonged to a knight while Cherit floated above his shoulder.

"You know Lok? Did your father even know about these amulets as well?" Sophie asked carefully. Talking about the lost seeker was a touchy subject when around Lok. She tried to avoid it as much as possible but there were times where questions couldn't help to be avoided.

Lok faltered for a bit before shaking his head and said, "Nope. If it was anything as important as this then I would have remebered it."

Cherit flew over and rested on top of a suit of armor's shoulder before saying, "But I'm sure that we'll find your dad Lok. We just have to keep looking!"

Lok smiled at his companion before nodding in agreement. The young seeker had grown fond of the winged titan and would risk his very life if it meant to save him. Granted at times he was annoying but it was just... Cherit.

"Lets keep on looking guys. I'm sure that we can find some other clues if we head over to the Asia section of the museum." Sophie said as she already started making her way back to the front. Lok gestured to the flying Titan to follow as Cherit complied before hopping off of the metal shoulder and followed his companions.

As the trio walked away, a gloved hand hand with four fingers reached up to gain a hold before a head with a single glowing red eye appeared. It's eyes focused onto the retreating backs as it transmitted it's vision to a large group of men and women in suits in a black van outside of the museum.

Defoe grabbed the tome from one of his associates as he smirked before commanding, "Get ready to move in on my signal. We're going to take down Dante Vale and his group of friends once and for all."

-X-

Dante and the Special Agents scoured the museum's inventory as to try and find any kind of clues regarding the Oriental Amulets at all. Special Agent Morgan was scrolling through the digital catalogs before Dante shouted that he had found the chest.

 _"Well that was fast,"_ Dante thought as he directed Special Agent Nate, that controlled a forklift, to bring the chest into a more open area so they could examine it. After doing so, Dnate got to work and took pictures on a seperate camera of the container of one of the most powerful Titans to exist.

The box was was about the size of an actual tresure chest while being completely covered in actual gold. Jade horns decorated each corner and intricate designs were carved into each side with what seemed superior craftsmanship covered the entire space provided. The back end showed the a furled up dragon looking as if it would be able to fly out of its hold and into reality. Another showed the presumed turtle from the scroll that they had saw in Italy. Its shell was massive while the view showed its face just staring at whoever looked at it in the eye. The left side of the the box was a little different. Instead of just a single figure taking up the entire portrait, a kneeling warrior dressed in combat gear kneeled in front of what seemed to be a Japanese gate that he had seen in his travels at one point when he journeyed to one time. Several weapons lined his sides ranging from clubs, bows, and etc.

However, one thing intriguied him was that the front side was empty. It was just a completely clean slate of gold that shined with the light. As if it was waiting to be written on by its next artist.

He thought, _"I figured that it would last at least more than a day before..."_

Dante train of thought stopped as he looked at a cylindrical lock on the front and it was unlocked. His eyes narrowed before grabbing the horns in front of him and lifting the lid open.

The 3 Special Agents eyes widened before Special Agent Morgan exclaimed wih his hand out, "What about the curse! Wai-"

The leader's voice died down as he peered into the box and found nothing.

"Someone got here before us," Dante said gravely as he turned towards the Special Agents, "This is bad. If the Organization should now about this-"

A beep came from his pocket as he pulled out his and answered,"What is it Lok?"

"It's the Organization!" Lok said in a frantic voice and Dante could easily hear the buzz of a Mindrone combined with the casting of spells from both sides. A slight pause came from the other side before the Lambert explained, "They broke through the front and exit doors as well! I'm with Sophie along with Cherit trying to hold them off but we can't last long. There are at least several dozen of these guys! Better hurry up Dan-"

The line cut off suddenly before Dante started asking,"Lok? Lok! Lok! Damn it."

He turned to the other's and explained, "The Organization knows that the Amulets are here and they sent one hell of a strike force too to get them. Right now, my team is holding them off upstairs as we speak so we better help them."

The Special Agents nodded in agreement before closing the lid on the chest and followed after the European seeker.

Unknowingly to the seekers, after they left, the chest glowed an flashing yellow before finally dying down to reveal, if the group had stayed, a clue that would've explained everything to where the Legendary-Class Titans were.

-X-

" **Augerfrost**!"

" **Boltflare**!"

A sphere of blue energy met an arc of blinding light as the two canceled each other out in a large cloud of smoke. Lok covered his face with his hands to shield himself from the explosion as well as the rest of his friends.

"Where's Dante at?!" Sophie yelled as she threw another spell at the enemy before having to duck behind a wooden bench for cover.

"He's on his way! My phone broke when I called him but he should know whas going on by now." Lok replied as he ducked under another **Augerfrost.** He saw several Mindrone's scattered throughout the area before deciding to summon his Titan to give them an edge.

Lok pulled out his Amulet that resembled a shield and yelled, "Come on _**Freelancer**_!"

The Draco-Titan Warrior appeared right in front of Lok to serve it's master. The Titan stood at least 7 feet tall with its lance and shield already in it's hands before turning to the men in suits and waited for it's next command.

"Attack those Mindrones!" Lok directed with a finger before his Titan nodded in conformation and charged.

"We better help him out then, _**Sabriel**_ , fight with us!" Sophie yelled as she pulled out her Amulet and summoned her Draco-Titan as well.

After a brief flash of light, in front of Sophie stood her own knight, kneeling. Sabriel's pink hair waved in the air as she stood up and drew her blade before turning it towards the enemy.

"Help those boys out Sabriel!" Sophie commanded before charging up a **Boltflare** and casting it on another Organization member. Sabriel nodded as well before pouncing onto a an unsuspecting Mindrone and it's controller.

Cherit was flying around and distracting the enemy Titans as his friends pelted them with spells. A few **Augerfrosts** flew past him as they impacted the mueseums walls and pillars, leaving behind a small burn.

"Where's Zhalia at?!" Lok asked as he dodged another spell that was aimed right for his head and hid behind the bench that Sophie was using. He had seen the mysterious woman just a few minutes ago but now she was just gone.

"Argh! I hate it when she does that! I don't get why Dante even lets her stick around?!" Sophie ranted as she threw another **Boltflare** at a Mindrone before joining Lok under the bench. After covering herself from a few shrapnel that came from a stray pillar, Sophie questioned, "Out of all the times! Where is that woman?!"

-X-

The woman in question was rummaging through another section of inventory space before she heard a loud boom come from above her.

"That sounds like an **Augerfrost** going off." Zhalia guessed out loud as she placed back a clipboard on a table. After years of being a Seeker, she tended to know what the spells that were trying to kill her sounded like. As she brought out her ringing cell, the missing in action seeker said to herself, "Seems like the Organization have arrived."

Zhalia flipped open her satellite phone and answered, "Yes father?"

"Zhalia my dear. The Organization seemed to have deployed quite a force to Chicago and not only that but I've been told that they are at the mueseum at this very moment." Her father said informatively.

 **BOOM**

"Yeah, I can hear them quite easily father." Zhalia deadpanned as she sweatdropped as well.

"Well just be careful. I know how the Organization members aren't as good as you are and would easily turn a small situation ino one giant mess to clean up later." He said with a tired sigh.

 **BOOM**

 **CRASH**

"You don't say father?" Zhalia said as she shook her head before making her way up the stairs and back to the main floor. If there was anything that she knew about the Organization's fighters, is that they would do anything to accomplish their goal. She said into the small device in her hands before hanging up, "I have to go father. I will talk to you at a later time."

"Very well." Came the response before the line went silent as Zhalia tucked the phone into her pocket and threw open the door leading from the lower floor.

 _Meanwhile somewhere in Europe_

"Zhalia, my dear, please do be careful." Klaus sighed as he hung up the receiver back to its resting place on his desk. The old scientist didn't look like one to care too much for others but there was only one that he always did.

Even though Zhalia wasn't his actual daughter, he viewed her as one from the bottom of his heart. Being such an ongoing scientist when he was younger meant that he had next to no contact with the opposite gender other than his fellow colleagues. Meaning no love interest and no wife to bear a heir for his line of work.

 _Flashback start_

 _When he first met Zhalia, the now mysterious seeker was just a young child cowering in the rain behind an old grocery building. The poor girl was dressed in nothing but old rags to shield her from the terrible weather that they was coming down upon her. He watched as many of pedestrians walked past her without even sparing a glance at her and hundreds more did the same._

 _After watching for several minutes, the soon-to-be evil scientist walked up to the child and kindly asked, "Are you okay little girl?"_

 _Zhalia had sniffled once more before looking up and shaking her head in response._

 _"What's your name?"_

 _Another sniffle came from her before a small murmur came from the child._

 _"Zhalia. Zhalia Moon"_

 _"Well then Miss Moon, are you hungry?"_

 _A single nod answered his question._

 _"Well, I just have happened to have bought a bit too much food on my grocery run. Would you mind helping me eat it all?" Klaus said with sincerety. It was of course a lie but he just had to get the child something to eat after giving her a small examination. Pale skin, sunken eyes, and hollow cheeks. All clear examples of malnourishment if he didn't know any better._

 _The atmosphere was tense as Zhalia did not move at all and Klaus's hand gripped tightly on his bag of groceries. If push came to shove, he might honestly have to resort to other means to stop the child from dying. However, slowly but surely, Zhalia rose._

 _Klaus's grip loosened as he sighed in relief before taking the young girl's hand and led her back to his home for a nice hot meal. On their way, a ray of light bursted through the thick cover of storm clouds and the torrent of water suddenly stopped._

 _It was as if nature had marked a new beginning for the young girl._

 _He had originally planned to have kept watch over her for a few days before handing the young girl off to a local orphanage. However, the events of those few days changed his mind for the better._

 _After treating Zhalia to a hot meal and asking another colleague to bring over a pair of children's clothes, Zhalia had finally gotten a place to rest after being outside for so long. Klaus tucked her into an old mattress and said goodnight before going to close the doors. But before he could, he heard a faint murmur from behind him,_

 _"Thank you father."_

 _The three words that were spoken struck a chord inside of him that continued to vibrate continously and continously. Even several hours later, when he was in his own bed, the three words still rang through his head. For once, in a very long time, Klaus had on his face, a very big smile._

 _The following morning he made pancakes and bacon with a bottle of maple syrup on the side. Klaus cooked with a bit of grace in his steps as he piled the food onto two seperate plates and sat them down onto the small dinner table that he had in the middle of the room._

 _The scientist patiently waited while sipping on his black coffee and calmly flipped through this morning's a few minutes of the bitter taste that he loved so much, the girl in question appeared out of his doorway yawning and rubbing her eyes tiredly._

 _"Good morning Zhalia. Would you care for some breakfest?"_

 _A simple nod was all he got as Klaus pulled a chair for Zhalia as he watch her devour the full breakfest meal that he had set before her. He watched her with a kind smile and waited until she finished the plate spotless before gathering up the plates and sat them down in the sink._

 _Klaus said as he sat down, "Now Zhalia, my dear, I do hope you realize that nothing in the world comes for free do you?"_

 _Zhalia's face fell as she placed her fists onto her knees and quielty said, "Yes sir."_

 _This wasn't the first time that Zhalia had thought that she would be placed in this situation. What would he ask of her? To be his slave for a month? Two months?! Maybe even for the rest of her-_

 _"I want adopt you Zhalia."_

 _Zhalia's mind went blank as it processed the words that had came out of the scientists mouth. Adoption? What?!_

 _"Umm, could you repeat that mister?" Zhalia asked in disbelief as she looked up._

 _"Your payment to me, would be if you would accept my offer of adopting you." Klaus said calmly while meeting her gaze with his unwavering own. He continued calmly after he reached his hand out to take a glass of milk from Zhalia's hand, "Of course if you don't accept I can send you to a local orphanage if that is what you wa-"_

 _ **CRASH**_

 _Klaus was shocked to say the least when he saw the glass shatter on the floor as Zhalias hand loosen and her fall to the grounds, to her knees. He quickly bent down with a towel and tried to gather up the broken shards. After he did, Klaus looked up to see the little girl in tears._

 _"Why are yo-"_

 _The scientist was pushed back by the force of a little child jumping into him and wrapping her arms around his neck. From the close distance, he could easily feel the moisture of her tears seeping through his vest._

 _"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Zhalia exclaimed while crying in joy that she found a parent. Her embrace tightened as she was afraid that her only parent would disappear again._

 _Klaus was beyond shocked at her response and just wrapped his arms around her as well. In all of his years of being a scientist, he had never been suprised before whether it was a new discovery or method he didn't bat an eye. Now the little girl in his arms just happened to amaze him on accepting his had thought that she would have more answers but-_

 _"Dad. Dadd. Daddd. Daddd..." Klaus heard nothing more as he felt Zhalia's small body fall limp in his hold. Klaus said nothing as the scientist gently held the frail girl carefully and swayed gently as he found how lucky he was to have found this gift._

 _Flashback end_

Klaus had taken a photo when Zhalia had woken up to commenerate the occasion and he copied the photo several times to make sure that he had it saved.

The old scientist reached over his desk and carefully picked up the less older picture frame. From that day on, the evil scientist had raised Zhalia to the women she is today. Klaus taught her the best that he could and raised her as best as he could.

Klaus set down the framed picture before sitting down in his comfortable chair and covered himself in his leather jacket. He sighed once before whispering worriedly, "I do worry for you Zhalia. It would do you well to remember that."

The evil scientist's head layed still as even he needs to rest every once in a while. After all, he was only human.

-X-

 **"Augerfrost!"(x7)**

"DUCK!"

Both Sophie and Lok covered their heads as shrapnel showered above them while their respective Titans were battling out with Mindrones and Redcaps in a close battle. However, the two Titans were slowly being pushed back by the sheer numbers of enemy Titans.

"Where's Dante at!" Sophie yelled as she peeked over the bench that they were at before having to duck down to avoid her head being blow away. Cherit was busy flying around in the air and distracting the

"Come out and play, _**Caliban**_!"

A bright light came from somewhere as Lok and Sophie immeditely recognized the user and looked up to see the Aztec-like warrior already in combat with two Mindrones at once. It's hair whipped wildly in the air as it brought its sword down to end an unfortunate Swara-Titan.

"Dante!" Both Lok and Sophie exclaimed before another flash of light came from their right to signal another Titan summon.

"Appear, _**Gareon**_!"

A snarl could be heard as they found the lizard-like Titan pounce onto an unsuspecting Mindrone and started to claw it to absolute hell. One final bite to the neck caused the enemy Titan to disappear in a fading red light back to its owner. Sophie saw their missing "friend" run towards them and was about to start on her rant before Lok held her back in a wild flail of arms.

"Where were you?!" Sophie said while removing herself from Lok's grip before turning to glare at the woman, "We needed all the help that we could get with how many of the Organization members are here!"

"Well I'm sorry princess but I was following Dante's orders of splitting up and searching for clues. Or did you not hear him?" Zhalia said in a sarcastic tone and a condescending glare.

"Why you-" Sophie started but was cut off when she stepped aside for Dante to pass and turned around to see one of the groups first enemy step into view, DeFoe.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." DeFoe started as he smugly smirked at them, "Seems to me that you are also looking for the Oriental Guardian Amulets as well."

Dante narrowed his eyes at DeFoe's statement as he thought about the Organization's finding. He was sure that he was careful to not leave any tracks or information in his where about. The question was however. How did they know about the Amulets and also where to look for them.

However, his current train of thought stopped as he heard footsteps behind him to find Special Agent Brown as well as Special Agent Nate and Claire right behind him.

"We're here to help Dante!" Special Aent Brown said as he reached under his collar shirt and pulled out his own Amulet. It was a dark gem that had a pair of wings covering it as a shell and a small bird's head resting at the top. He yelled, "Take to the skies, _**Jagter**_!"

A flash of signaled the summoning as a bird-like Titan came forward. It was give or take 4 feet tall with its two wings span almost double it's height. It's black and brown feathers made it to where its almost impossible to see it in the right enviorment. Claws that were bigger than a human's hands and talons that were as sharp as knives gave the bird quite the kill potential. Combine that with a vicous beak that can cut through even wood and eyes that can see almost three-fourths a mile away made it the perfect hunter. A gem sat on top of its head hekd ina place by a gold lock.

"We'll help out as well sir!" Special Agent Nate and Claire said as they each brought out their own Amulets. Nate's was shaped like a log with it's green gem implanted right in the middle while Claire's was shaped like a cat's face with its orange gem located right in the middle of the forehead.

"Come to life, _**Treot**_!" Nate yelled as the Amulet started glowing it's gem's color.

The ground started shaking as roots started to erupt from out of nowhere and the mian body of the Titan started to form as well as branches growing out from the trunk. It grew and grew until it was almost 10-feet tall and with it's branches coming together to become arms. A crack appeared in the middle of the trunk to reveal a mouth with jagged teeth. Two slits widened to reveal slanted eye holes just above the mouth and a twig in between them for a nose.

"With me, _**Triofe!**_ _"_ Claire followed her friends example as well and her own Amulet glowed in agreement.

A flash of light and a blur of purple marked another summon that had taken place. The cat was bigger than your average house cat with a dark purple coat and it wore a necklace with an orange oval gem held by a black collar. Resting on top of it's forehead was a third green eye with it's black slits horizontally set. It blinked in unsion with it's other eyes while the tail waved in the air.

With all of that, came three more Titans to fight against the Organization and to lessen the odds against them just a bit.

However, the Organization still outnumbered them at least 3 to 1 with who knows how many more members in the area. DeFoe along with a few of suits still had a couple of Titans up their sleeves and Dante knew that for sure.

"Now why don't we get this party started why don't we? Teach them a lesson, _**Gar-Ghoul**_!" DeFoe commanded while holding out his own Amulet.

"Not only that but appear, _**Kreutalk**_! Cut them down, _**Redcaps**_! Why not join in the fun as well _**Mindrone**_!" He also said while pulling out an Amulet for each of the respective Titans and laughed manically.

Several bright flashes of light appeared to show the venomous rays, monsters with claws, one-eyed being, and a giant stone figure with wings roared its might and shook the room.

Dante's eyes widened as he saw the amount of Titans all in one place in front of him. Never before in his career had he seen this many Titans summoned in one place before. The legendary seeker looked over his forces and found the situation quite dire. They were indeed outnumbered 3 maybe even 4 to 1. While the majority of their Titan's weren't as strong as his but the sheer number of them could easily overwhelm their group.

"Now Gar-Ghoul, attack that woman behind that ugly lizard with a blast of high-pressured water!" DeFoe commanded with finger and wicked grin.

Dante's legs immedietly turned towards Zhalia but was pulled back quickly by his jacket collar by a stray arm just in time before a sludge of green goo flew past him and landed on a stone pillar. The sludge started bubbling and a section of the pillar was eaten away in an instant.

"Zhalia!" Dante yelled out while being held back by Special Agent Brown. No matter how much Dante struggled against the American-based Huntik member. He could break free of his iron hold.

"Release!"

He was too late.

Gar-Ghoul opened it's mouth and released a burst of rushing water straight for Zhalia. DeFoe smirked as he saw his Titans attack. Gar-Ghoul's water attack had enough strength to knock down even one of a Legendary-Class Titan with ease. Such a power being used against a person would mean the victim would be obliterated in an instant. There was no saving this woman and another thorn in his side would be gone once and for all.

Zhalia's eyes widened as she tried to run but held her ground as several projectiles landed around her and effectively trapping her in the target area. She covered herself with her arms and saw that her Titan had stood his ground right next to her while hissing at Gar-Ghoul. She smiled for a brief moment at her friends loyalty as she braced for the oncoming impact that would surey kill her.

The stream of water was just a few feet from reaching her before the impossible happened.

" **Guardian Art: Turtle's Defense**!"

Zhalia opened her eyes and found a man standing in front of her with his right hand up and index and middle finger near his forehead. She still saw the water attack heading straight for her and brought a hand up to try to pull the man away.

In an instant of hearing the chant, a green shield appeared from in front of the person and quickly spreaded to cover an area around them. The dome's patterns were octagonal and resembled something that she had seen just a while ago.

The stream impacted the turtle-like shield and water spreaded across the entire surface in a violent fashion. The assult went on for at least 20 seconds and Zhalia half expected the barrier to fall but it held.

DeFoe commanded Gar-Ghoul to stop his attack and half expected to see a bloodied and wet wall but was shocked to find another person standing in front of Zhalia. Both seemed to be unharmed and it infuriated him to no end.

"You there! Who are you to interfere with my plans!" He asked while shaking his fist in anger. DeFoe had enough trouble already with having to deal with Dante's group and now this?!

The figure was dressed in a silver robe that strongly resembled something that one would see an Asian monk wear for fighting minus the sagging sleeves. A long brown coat covered his entire body while reaching to his heels and a hood covered his head. Fingerless gloves adorned the hands that had casted the spell. A matching mask pulled up to the person's nose completed the look of a vigilante coming into to save a damsel in distress.

"Hasn't your mother taught you to not be rude and spray water at women?" The figure said mockingly as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Dante sighed in relief as he saw his teammate safe and sound while inwardly smiling at the jab to DeFoe. Both Lok and Sophie were rejoicing that their friend was safe and Cherit was flying up and down while following his two friends example. All three Special Agents however still had their eyes trained onto the enemy force in front of them but were all relieved on the inside.

A throbbing vein could almost be seen on the long enemy of the Huntik Foundation as he watched the newcomer mock him in front of his men. DeFoe had enough of his enemies thinking that they could say what they want in front of him and get away with it? Not anymore!

"Arggh you bastard! For once can nobody get in my way?!" DeFoe ranted as he stamped angrily on the ground repeatedly like a child before looking back up and giving the figure in the robe a murderous glare. "You shall pay for your interference in my plans hooded one!

DeFoe opened his arms wide and ordered, "Attack my minons! Show that man the power of the Organization!"

A collection of Mindrones, Kreutalk, and Redcaps all took to the air somehow towards the masked figure and Zhalia.

The latter widened her eyes as she tried to pull the man in front of her out of the way but found that he wouldn't budge. She would've ran away but something told her that the man in front of her was a lot more than the eye can see. Gareon was still ready to pounce while looking at the approaching force. Taking a bet, Zhalia stood up straight behind the man and hoped for another miracle to happen out of nowhere.

Luck just happened to be on her side today.

A light came from the side that instantly got brighter by the second and Zhalia felt the temperature rise by a considerable amount of degrees. She saw a torrent of flames suddenly appear from the left side and instantly incinerate the enemy Titans in several anguish cries and a brief flash of light.

Lok's jaw dropped while Sophie's mouth was agape at the rate of destruction brought onto the Titans. Cherit's blood ran cold as he imagined himself being caught in those flame. There was few times in his life when he saw so much pwer in one spot and it personally scared him out of his fur.

However, Dante and the other Special Agents narrowed their eyes at the amount of power shown. They had a feeling of where it originated from and judging from the way the barrier looked that the mysterious man had casted, it was what the team had flown halfway across the world to look for.

"ROARRRRRRRRR!"

A dragon's head flowed in between the pillars that supported the building as it made it's way towards Zhalia and the mysterious person. It's roar managed to make Cherit almost faint from suprise and chill Lok down to his bones.

It was a large and fearsome Titan indeed. It covered at least 30 feet long and was at least a couple of feet wide. A red and silver scaly body shined briefly in the light as it passed over the glass ceiling momentarily before coming down. Its muscular arms and hindlegs were located near the end of each side and their sharpness was nothing to mess with. Its head was had a mane of hair to match and jade-green eyes to stare down anyone who dared to challenge it. Long nose hairs coming from the side of its snout and the way rest of its face looked gave the dragonic Titan an image of experience and power.

It made its way towards Zhalia and the masked man and circled around them to create a wall of thick scales before it moved to where a small opening was made while still in the air. The dragon stopped just above Zhalia's head and gave a massive roar at the Organization members in front of her.

The mysterious man in front of her clapped his hands together after walking up a bit and said "Now, lets get started shall we?"

-X-

 **A/N: That's the end of that. Haven't revisited this story in a while and I was actually thinking about abandoning it but thanks to a certain review(Thank you SaraNero ;) ) I decided to finish this one chapter up before I make my way back to the other Fanfic that I'm writing and to finish it before I go off on vacation with my family. So for those that are here or checking your notifications for The Guardian of Piltover.**

 **Sorry XD.**

 **Anyway, for people that are reading this and are asking about why the OC is this one unattractive Asian dude that should never get laid in his life get someone like Zhalia? Here's why.**

 **I'm part of the population that likes stories where its not a good looking, buff, brave, and manly guy gets the girl while a lees unattractive guy is just on the bench doing whatever. I hate it like when the nerd gets left out because, a bit biased, I am a nerd. Like, I rarely find stories, books, and movies where the nerd/ ordinairy guy gets the girl. Like if you get me leave a review and it will be much appreciated.**

 **Last of all, I am grateful to anyone that has kept with this story for a while and I wish that I can make an impact in the community as much as I can. Also, don't forget to favorite, follow, and review. Those things can mean a difference between me updating these stories for a while.**

 **I will see you guys later and keep on listening to Nightcore folks, 3**

 **P.S: For those looking for the next chapter for The Guardian of Piltover. It will be up in most likely a week most likely a couple of days later. Sorry for the hiatus XD**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for my OC's and my ideas in this fanfic. All rights go to their respective owners.**

 **-X-**

"Get him!"

Organization members prepared spells in their hands while the Titans advanced with almost savage-like movements onto the Huntik Foundation.

"Let's go gang!" Dante said as he charged up a **Boltflare** in his hands before running behind a nearby pillar and firing off spells, "Take cover somewhere safe Elizabeth."

She nodded before running while ducking at the same time to a safe spot while her husband fought.

"Agents Claire, Nate!" Special Agent Morgan ordered while pulling out his pistol, "Engage the enemy with non-lethal shots and protect our comrades from Europe! Call for reinforcements as well!"

"Yes sir!" Both of them replied before pulling out their guns while Nate dialed a number onto his phone.

"This is Special Agent Nate!" He said while unloading a few rounds before ducking, "Requesting backup at..."

As Nate called for back up, Claire kneeled down next to him and provided cover fire for her comrade while ducking to avoid a destructive **Augerfrost** aimed for her face.

Lok and Sophie were still behind their overturned bench with Cherit doing a recon on the enemy forces while relaying the information back to his friends.

Zhalia watched the small scale battle unfold before tapping the mysterious man on the shoulder and asked, "Hello?"

The man turned around to meet Zhalia's eyes in an even gaze. He was just a bit taller than her, standing at about just over 6 feet, and radiated an aura of power and mysteriousness with his outfit.

"Thanks?" Zhalia said unsurely, as she doesn't know of the man intents of saving her and having seen his power. The seeker had to be careful of her next actions.

However, the day came with just more suprises as the man raised a hand up in a sort of wave and gave her an eye smile.

"No problem." He said, the voice a bit muffled due to the mask but it was definately a man's voice before he gestured towards the fight, "Let's join them shall we?"

"Sure?" Zhalia replied with the same tone of uncertainty with a raised eyebrow.

The mysterious man bowed with his fist covered with the other before turning to face DeFoe, who was fuming at this point.

"Looks like I'll have to deal with you myself!" DeFoe growled loudly before running up to the masked figure while shoving aside other Organization member with Gar-Ghoul following, its stone feet and large frame causing vibrations every time it stepped.

"Bring it." The masked man said while striding towards DeFoe with his cloak floating slightly behind him before raising two fingers and gestured towards the dragon, "Lets go Huo."

The now known Titan, Huo, unraveled from it's protective pose around Zhalia before floating up next to the man, with its body seemingly swimming through the air as it moved forward.

"Show that over grown lizard real power Gar-Ghoul!" DeFoe ordered while pointing towards Huo before looking towards the man and rolled up his sleeves, "I'll deal with this piece of trash myself."

"Now that's just a bit over the line." The masked man said as he saw Gar-Ghoul start to barrel towards him before picking up his pace towards DeFoe.

Huo saw Gar-Ghoul towards its master before advancing onto the stone Titan with a dragonic roar.

The two Titan's collided with a loud crash as stone met scales. Huo's mouth crackled with embers before it let loose a torrent of flames at enemy Titan.

Gar-Ghoul countered by attempting to clamp down on the dragon's fire breathing mouth with its claws but failed when Huo bit it's shoulder hard, sending the Litho-Titan in a screeching rage.

The Titan grabbed Huo's side with its left and its head in the right and tried to rip the dragon off but it held on. Losing balance, the Gar-Ghoul stepped back a couple of times before falling back onto a glass display case with Huo's still latched on tightly. The crash sent glass shards everywhere across the ground in a wide area.

"Don't you dare lose Gar-Ghoul!" DeFoe yelled at his Titan while running past before ducking down to dodge a flying foot aimed for his face.

The masked man landed before pivoting on the foot on the ground and launched another kick backwards, the cape whipping wildly in the air at the force of the move.

DeFoe quickly backed up before bringing his hands up in a boxer pose and gritted his teeth while looking at the man with his foot still in the air. He didn't expect for the wierd man to come at him so suddenly but now he was ready to fight.

The man brought down his foot before settling into a sort of martial arts stance. His left hand extended outward with an open palm while his right did the same near just below his chest. The foot matched with their upper limb's positions as they were directed towards to DeFoe.

"You don't scare me mister superhero!" DeFoe shouted as he steadied his fists at the man, "I've fought some of the worst people that you can't even imagne!"

The man said nothing as he looked at DeFoe with a sort of impasse face, clearly not impressed by his threat.

"Ahh!" DeFoe let loose a small battle cry before charging at the man and throwing the first punch.

The two men that were fighting were pratically polar opposites as they attacked. DeFoe's attacks were wild and strong while he kept on taunting the masked man before going on the offensive again. He mainly used his fists while occasionaly throwing a curse at the man when his back is turned.

However, the masked man's movement were coordinated and flowed easily with his attacks at DeFoe. Not only that but the man was more experienced with his style of fighting and had a sixth sense as well. If dodging blind curses wasn't enough already, he also was very mobile and every part of his body moved fast and easily unlike Defoe's, who was trying to use brute strength to with the fight.

The man guided DeFoe's fist away from his head with his open hand and latched onto the wrist before throwing his own at DeFoe. The Organization member caught it with his open palm and pushed back at the masked man. He countered with equal strength and the two fighters were locked at a standstill, their companions fighting just nearby.

DeFoe glared into the eyes of the stranger as his arms shaked slightly from opposing force. The man's eyes showed no fear, no hesitation. Just a strong show of determination and unwavering resilence was painted on his face.

"Sir!" An Organization member yelled before him and a few of his comrades rushed to aid DeFoe with their Titans closely following.

The masked man turned towards the voice and DeFoe took the chance to seperate himself before yelling, "Get him!"

"Mindrone zap the enemy!" A suit commanded his Titan before making way to allow the one-eyed being to fight its new target. Not only that but 3 other Mindrones followed the order and together they walked forward like a group of firing squad members.

The Swara-Titan's armor clanked a bit as it walked before standing in front of the man, towering almost an entire foot taller. It's eyes starting to glow with a menacing red energy before bracing it arms behind him as if trying to hide them.

The man's eyes widened before bringing his hands to the right side of his hip, as if he was holding something close to it.

The group of Titans released the built up energy and four strong lasers flew towards the masked man at almost light speed. At such a close range as well, there was no way that the man could dodge all of them at once.

He didn't.

Instead, a flash of white light nearly blinded the Organization members and DeFoe as they brought their arms up to shield the eyes. Multiple streaks of red light tainted the white light in almost every direction as it hit walls, pillars, and other objects behind the man.

Zhalia too looked away while bringing her arm up but regretted it as a stray beam grazed her right arm near the shoulder. It felt like someone had quickly pressed a hot iron to her sleeve and removed it in an instant, leaving the instant burning pain behind that barely registered into her mind as she was too busy staring at the sight in front of her.

A single second passed before the bodies of the Mindrones started to glow red in color slowly. Each and every one of the Mindrones upper body section started to slowly slide down in a diagonal direction. However, their feet weren't moving nor their lower body.

The man's pose was in a sort of striking position with a sword in his hand sat at the far end of the Mindrone on his right. The sword was also different from your average sword having a curved blade instead of being straight. Even from the distance Zhalia could see a reflection of light off of the sword, clearly defining it's sharpness.

"I-m-possible!" DeFoe choked out before one of his colleages pulled him aside to avoid a narrowly missed sword swing that would've taken off his head.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about me DeFoe!" Dante's voice reached his ears as he saw the iconic Titan that the infamous seeker used in front of him.

"Dante Vale." DeFoe drawled out as he shook his fist in anger, "I'll deal with you shortly after killing this other nuisance!"

"I don't think so DeFoe." Dante said as the Special Agents moved up with their pistols drawn and aimed at the several Organization members. Lok stood behind Lancer with Cherit faltering in flight beside him, the battle taking toll on him, while Sophie stood confidently beside her own Titan.

The rest of the Organization members had abondoned their assualt and regrouped with their leader with some of the members being supported by other. Obviously injured from the fight with Dante's group and their Titans.

" _Sir_." An Organization member whispered into his ear, " _Our lookouts reported several Huntik Foundation vehicles heading towards us. I'd strongly advise that we retreat for right now sir._ "

"Damn." DeFoe cursed under his breath before glaring at both Dante and the masked man. As much as he wanted to destroy both of them right then and now, he knew that it wouldn't help in his search for the Oriental Amulets if he was in prison.

"We're moving out!" He ordered his men quickly before looking over to see his Gar-Ghoul fighting what seemed like a losing battle.

Everytime that it let loose a current of water to try and fight back, the dragon would shut it down with its own burst of burning flames that would steam the water on impact before resuming its attack. Gar-Ghoul tried to use his powerful arms to hold down Huo but the latter was too fast and flexible for the stone Titan to grab a hold off.

"Gar-Ghoul! We are retreating!" DeFoe shouted before holding out the Amulet and watched as the stone Titan glowed in response. A stream of blue light streamed towards the Amulet before entering it and glowed brightly before settling down.

Huo, after finding its opponent nowhere to be found, flew back to its owner and surround him in a protective ring before letting loose another ferocious roar at the retreating Organization members.

"This isn't the last time we will meet Dante Vale!" DeFoe shouted while shaking his fists as his colleagues recalled their respective Titans and tried to pull him towards an exit door. The evil seeker turned back once more before throwing off the arms trying to restrain him and looked at the masked man.

"I better not see **you** again." He said while turning around to look at the masked man with a glare before jerking his thumb across his neck, "Or your last fight will be your **last**!"

The masked man merely stood up straight with his sword pointing towards the ground, with both hands resting on the hilt and returned the glare right back at DeFoe. An aura of power seemed to emit from the man as he said,

" **Bring it**!"

That single phrase sent chills down Lok's, Cherit, Sophie, and even a good portion of the Organization members backed up a few steps before pulling on their comrades with them to leave.

DeFoe managed to stand his ground but a few drops of prespiration covered his forehead as he heard what the man said. He hasn't been this scared since the leader of the Organization threatened him the last time he failed.

"Argh!" DeFoe swallowed his pride before barking out, "Move it!"

The Organization members almost tripped over themselves as they ran through the exit door while throwing out curses to cover their retreat. Dante and the rest of the group ducked in cover at the blindly shot deadly projectiles that sent pieces of the wall and shattered display cases of glass scattered everywhere.

Zhalia ran behind a pillar to avoid a **Augerfrost** that tore a hole in the wall behind her before peeking out to recall her Titan real quick before ducking back into cover. But not before catching sight of the cloak of the man that saved her standing calmly in face of the onslaught of spells fired on them.

She slowly brought her hand up to gingerly touch the burn mark near her shoulder as well as see how bad it was. The fabric had a clean circle with the edges slightly singed

The sound of **Augerfrosts** being cast finally stopped after a few minutes allowed the group to slowly peek over their cover in anticipation of being blasted but it never came.

"Is everyone alright?" DeFoe asked while looking around and standing up fully, "Special Agents? Guys?"

"We are all accounted for sir." Special Agent Morgan said while taking into account his colleagues, "Special Agent Claire and Nate are all accounted for."

"We're okay as well Dante!" Lok called out a couple of feet away while holding onto an unconcious Cherit, "Cherit's just a bit tired out but he'll be fine and Sophie's unharmed."

"Zhalia, Elizabeth where are you at!" Dante yelled while looking around for the last two of the group and surveying the museum.

The place had taken a heavy beating, with the amount of destructive spells that were casted Dante was suprised that it was still in pretty decent shape. Pillars that held the ceiling were cracked while some had fallen over completely courtesy of Gar-Ghoul's fight with the masked man's Titan. Almost all of the display cases had been broken and wooden benches had been cracked from the low tempertures of **Augerfrosts** and charred thanks to **Boltflares**. The ground was littered with shrapnel and chunks of plaster from the walls as well as small holes from numerous spells.

As much as it was damaged, Dante knew that the place would be up and running in a couple of days with a lot of hard work.

"I'm fine Dante." She said while slowly revealing herself from behind the pillar while nursing her arm inconspicuously, "A little battle worn but okay."

Elizabeth's auburn hair was seen when she slowly revealed herself from behind the reception desk that was strangely untouched.

"I'm okay!" She said while walking over to her husband and giving him a kiss on the lips, "Although I can't say the same for the museum though."

"They can repair it." Dante said while returning the kiss, "But as long as everyone's okay."

Dante, always the careful eye, looked Zhalia up and down before seeing the obvious body language and tried to confront her about it but she waved him off.

"So what happened?" She asked the obvious question while looking around as well while everyone gathered in a loose circle.

"Obviously the Organization knows that we're here." Sophie answered while dusting off her sweater, "Not only that but they're also looking for the Oriental Amulets as well."

"But how did they know?" Lok questioned before kicking a piece of a pillar absently, "How did the Organization know where to even start looking for them anyway?"

Zhalia was actually curious on how the Organization managed to pinpoint the location of the Amulets as well. Klaus was the one that told her that the Organization had already found the location of the Amulet and to expect company.

"Maybe the transmission that we had with Guggeinheim was tapped." Dante said while rubbing his chin, "I'll talk to the Foundation about strengthening the security on their communications."

"Now what about you mister.." Dante said while turning around expecting to find the masked man but saw nothing but the after math of the battle, "He disappeared."

"Seriously?" Lok exclaimed before whipping around and looking everywhere to indeed find the masked man nowhere to be present, "That's so awesome!"

"What do you mean you can't find them!"

The group turned to see Special Agent Morgan shouting into a cellphone while Nate and Claire stood by.

" _Sir we legitimately cannot locate them."_ A static voice sounded out from the cell, " _We blocked off all the roadways leading in and out into the building but not one vehicle has passed by us other than our guests and yours. The men are scouring the other buildings as we speak but I don't know if we'll find anything though."_

 _"_ Damn." Special Agent Morgan cursed before relaying a few more orders and hanged up.

"I'm guessing that they got away?" Dante asked while walking up to the Special Agent.

"I don't know how but they did." He answered back with a sigh while rubbing his head, "I can already imagine the crap that the higher-ups are gonna give me when I report back."

"I'm sure that a few old folks sitting in their reclining chairs won't be too much of a problem for you." Dante reassured with a clap on the back, "Now I'm sure that's enough for today so why don't you report back to command while I take my guys back to rest up?"

"Probably a good idea." Special Agent Morgan said while making a few more calls, "I'll handle the clean up here so you go on ahead. I'll call you if I need to."

"You heard him." Dante said while motioning to his team to grab their wintercoats as he put on his own, "Everyone into the van!"

They left the museum from the way they came in to find that the van was still parked outside with the driver taking a nap and the weather still snowing but not as hard.

Zhalia walked up and knocked on the window, quickly waking up the driver that gave her an apologetic smile before unlocking the doors to let the group in.

Dante sat next to his wife while Lok was in the very back caring for an unconcious Cherit and Sophie watched. Zhalia took shotgun and leaned against the window as the van started to move back to Elizabeth's house.

"So who was that dude?" Lok asked while rubbing his shoulders to help with the cold, "I never seen magic like that ever in my life!"

"Yeah." Sophie agreed while leaning forward to see Dante pull out the Holotome, "Also is it just me or does the magic AND the Titan that the man used look quite familar."

"You are indeed right Sophie." Dante replied while bringing up an image of the scroll and zoomed in onto the three symbols at the bottom before pointing at the one on the far right, "Look familiar?"

"It looks like the same design of the barrier the man casted to save Zhalia!" Sophie exclaimed while tracing the image, "It pratically is identical!"

"I did hear him say a chant right before the spell was casted." Zhalia said as she turned around to look behind her seat, "It was **Guardian Art: Turtle's Defense**. I'm a hundred percent sure that I heard it right."

"So the turtle is what one of the symbols represent and the other one." Dante said while pointing towards the dragon, "Is the dragon. But what does the last one mean?"

"What this one?" Lok said while looking over the seat and pointing at the one on the left, "Looks like a clover from a flower to me."

"You might be right Lok but it's what it represents is what makes me curious." Dante said while rubbing his chin, "But it's safe to say that the man that saved Zhalia was indeed a seeker and not only that but he holds the Oriental Guardians."

"I thought you found the chest that had the Amulets Dante?" Sophie questioned with a confused face.

"I did but someone got to it before us." He replied in a semi-grim tone, "I can bet my money that the masked man we met holds all of them at his fingertips."

"How does he control so many though?" Lok asked while pulling out his own Amulets.

"It's not uncommon for a natural seeker to control more than one Titan." Dante said while closing the Holotome, "But to control so many Legendary Titans is unheard of."

"Until now that is." Elizabeth chimed in while holding onto Dante's hand, "Not only that but we don't even know why he stayed to fight the Organization after saving Zhalia. He could've left after saving her and we wouldn't have known he even had them if it wasn't for that dragon he controlled."

"That dragon was cool though!" Lok exclaimed with childish excitement, "The way it protected Zhalia and fought DeFoe's Gar-Ghoul and don't forget when he blasted all of those Titans in one go!"

The mood lightened up as everyone started to laugh out loud at Lok's wonderment. Elizabeth and Sophie laughed into their hands like proper ladies would while Dante and the driver shared a loud chuckle. Even Zhalia managed to crack a small smile at Lok before looking back out into the snowy enviorment.

Cars passed by hers of every kind being ordinairy or luxury while leaving behind a white smoke trail from the exhaust pipe. Streetlights were standing tall in the might of the oncoming storm while pedastrains moved by on the sidewalks, breath forming a small cloud of mist as they moved towards their location.

Buildings, people, and cars went by as Zhalia wondered about the man that saved her from DeFoe. She knew the destructive power of Gar-Ghoul's water blast and there was a strong possibility that she could've died from it alone. The fact that the man was the also the seeker that held the Oriental Guardian Amulets and was able to use them to such an extent made him all the more mysterious and dangerous.

However, the fact that he saved her and stuck around to fight off the Organization was what made her rethink. Was he another enemy of the Organization that happened to be there at the exact time that she was about to be killed? Or was he aiming to take out the Organization before turning onto her group?

Zhalia was so indepth that she forgot that they had already arrived back at Elizabeth's house and Dante opened the door for her.

"Zhalia?"

The sudden calling of her name shook Zhalia out of her train of thought before she apologized and exited the van after giving the driver a small wave goodbye.

She entered the home to find the everyone settling down in the living room talking with Tom and Cathy. Zhalia joined them after putting up her coat on the rack and settled down onto a single comfy looking chair before moving her arm up more to inspect the burn.

"Oh my dear!" Cathy shouted before getting up from her spot and running over to a cabinet and retrieved a first aid kit, "What happened to you?!"

"It's fine Cathy." Zhalia insisted as the older lady pulled out some ethanol and cotton swabs to clean the wound, "It's not really that bad ma'am."

"Oh hush you." Cathy said as she started to clean out the dried blood and fabric from the wound before wrapping it up in bandages, "If there's one thing that I've learned from raising Elizabeth is that it's always that bad."

"But-"

"Not buts child." Cathy said with finale before packing up the first aid kit and returning it to its resting place, "Now tell me what happened while you all were at that museum?"

Dante explained to them what they found and the fight that ensued over the Oriental Amulets. Cathy, after hearing of the fight, started going around to check that no one was injured and that no one was lying about not being injured. Relieved that her search came up empty and that no one was injured, Cathy sat back down near her husband to listen to the rest of the story.

"And here we are now." Dante finished before letting out a sigh, "That was one of biggest full on battles that I've ever been in and honestly we were lucky with that one."

"You did a fine job protecting your friends Dante." Tom praised with a nod, "and of course my daughter."

"Thank you sir."

"Now I'm sure you're all hungry right now so why don't you all get ready for lunch?" Cathy said while clapping her hands together before shouting, "Quoc! Where are you!"

"He's not here Cathy." Tom reminded her with a small smile, "Remember that he told us that he was going out for groceries?"

"Oh he was." She said with realization before smiling sheepishly, "Sorry about that dear."

"Groceries? I thought I stocked up on them before I left a few days ago?" Elizabeth questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"He probably has to replace all the food that we ate yesterday." Tom said with a shrug.

"Still." She said while trying to remember the food that she bought before being sent to Europe to bring back Dante.

"I'm back mister and missus Williams!"

As if the devil had spoken, Quoc was standing in front of the open doorway with bags of groceries in his arms while the rest of his body was covered in a semi thick cover of snow. His head shook quickly to reveal the Asian helper wearing a gray beanie and a red face from the cold.

"Welcome back Elizabeth and guests." He greeted before giving a slightly small bow and making his way towards the back of the kitchen, careful to not let any snow fall onto the carpet, "Lunch will be served in just a bit ma'am."

"I thought I had already stocked up the fridge for the week Quoc?" Elizabeth asked while following her helper into the kitchen, where he sat the food down on a table before removing his winter gear.

"You did but since the weather warned of a heavy storm coming in tonight I thought it would be better to be safe than sorry." Quoc reasoned before putting up all of the groceries and pulling out a few cooking utensils as well as ingredients.

"Oh." Elizabeth said before she saw the logic in that before returning back into the living room and informed everyone else.

 **20 minutes later**

"Enjoy everyone!"

The group dug into a delicous meal of fried rice with an assortment of vegetables, spices, and sausages with a side of pickled cabbages. In the middle of the table sat a enormous pot of spinach soup containing a couple of shrimps and a few pinches of pepper for flavor.

"Another glass of Mountain Dew please!"

"More rice over here Quoc!"

"Do you mind scooping me a portion of that wonderful soup dearie?"

Quoc performed each order in pratically record time and refilled everyones drink before giving a small bow and returned into the kitchen.

"This stuff is great!" Lok said while taking a swig of his Mountain Dew, "I can eat this all day!"

"Is it better than your mom's cooking then?" Sophie asked micheviously while wiping her mouth with a napkin.

"Umm." The young seeker tried to find coherant words to defend his mother as his face started to slowly go red.

"So it's a yes then?" Sophie said while making the motion of taking out her phone, "Perhaps I will give Mrs. Lambert and tell her you said-"

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Lok said while scampering to get up and knocking Cherit down as well, who was still eating his portion.

"I'm just joking Lok!" Sophie said while clutching her stomach that was in pain from her laughing, "I would never do something like that."

"Yeah, yeah, it's a joke." Lok said while sitting back down and started eating again but at a considerably slower pace.

"Oh Lok." Sophie said seeing his mood change felt a little bit bad before placing a hand onto his shoulder, "I was merely joking."

"I know! I know." Lok said before starting to pick at his food, "It's really fine Sophie."

"Oh, okay." Sophie removed her hand before going back to her meal, obviously noticing the change in atmosphere.

"I'll excuse myself." Zhalia said as she stacked her plate, bowl, and cup before bringing it all into the kitchen to find Quoc eating his own lunch.

She placed her dirty plates into the dishwasher and turned around to look at his meal.

It looked like some leftovers from lunch but with alot more side dishes. She could distinguish sliced pickles in a small bowl along with what looked like thinly sliced carrot sticks about the length of her finger. A bowl of what she could only explain as what looked like buffalo hair and a hard boiled egg sliced in half. A large cup of milk by his side would wash all of that down to finish.

Quoc was too busy shoveling in fried rice from a bowl with a chopstick to notice that Zhalia was there so she tapped him lightly on the shoulders before crossing her arms.

The helper turned around quickly with specks of rice on his mouth and the chopsticks in mid-air. He looked up to see Zhalia giving him an amused look before he wiped his mouth on a spare napkin to clean himself.

"Sorry about that." He apologized before starting to get up, "I assume you need help with="

"No!" Zhalia said a bit too loudly, which earned her a scared expression from the helper, "I mean, what are you eating?"

"Oh!" Quoc said out loud before a smile appeared on his face and he said while pointing towards each of the, "That's pickles obviously, some pickled carrots, soem eggs, and this hairy looking stuff is shredded chicken."

"Is it good?" Zhalia asked while leaning in closer to get a better look at the supposed "chicken".

He nods as he flipped his chopsticks backwards and picking a decent helping of the stuff before bringing it up to her mouth with a hand under it to prevent and loose pieces from falling.

"Say ahhhh." Quoc said while guiding the mouthful towards Zhalia.

"I'm not doing that!" Zhalia said while inching away from the chopstick trying to sound serious but her small smile betrayed her.

"You're not even gonna touch the part I put my lips on!" Quoc reasoned with a smile of his own as he slowly got to his feet while carefully holding the chopstick, "Come on Zhalia it's good!"

"No means no!" Zhalia said while stepping back a few steps as she saw him standing up and her smile was full blown now.

"Yes you will!" Quoc said as he thrusted the chopstick towards Zhalia's mouth but she ducked under him.

"Come on!" He said exasperatedly with his left hand on his hip, "It's just one bite!"

Zhalia decided to stick with the act a little bit longer by sticking her tounge out at him, seeing what kind of action it would provoke.

Well it worked, if seeing a six foot Asian coming at her with a chopstick in hand and a determind look on doesn't mean anything.

He chased her around the kitchen with suprising speed since he was dressed in a tux and a bit on the fatter side. Zhalia ducked under strikes and even leaped onto the counter to avoid him but she eventually came to a stand still with him.

Quoc had grabbed her right wrist firmly while she did the same to his right hand that was trying to feed her. The funny thing was that his tongue curled upwards on the right corner of his mouth, as if he was really that determined to get her to taste it.

Zhalia held it in as she watched Quoc's hilarious expression as he tried to feed her a bite of the chicken. Finally, she broke as she started to giggle before it turned into light laughter and she started to lose strength in her arms.

Quoc took the oppurtunity and broke free of her grip before shoving the chicken into Zhalia's open mouth so fast that she had no time to react, careful to avoid hitting her teeth in the process.

Zhalia was caught by suprise as she felt the sudden entry before whipping back with the chicken in her mouth before she tried to chew but couldn't. It was too tough for her teeth to shred through and the first impression of it was that it had a sort of cotton-like texture and she almost spit it out.

However, at the same moment, the chicken pratically softened when it touched her saliva and a sort of savory taste literally exploded inside her mouth. Her mouth started salivating at such an unexpected flavor to appear. It instantly started to soften and Zhalia started to chew and it felt like chewing on a piece of tender meat before she swallowed with a baffled expression.

"Wow huh?" Quoc said with a smug grin with his arms crossed, "I told you it was good!"

Zhalia rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless at his antics before flicking her hair back and said, "Whatever."

"You know you liked it." Quoc said with a raised eyebrow before walking up with a hankerchief in his hands, "Now you got something on your face so let me get that..."

"Oh no, no!" Zhalia said with a grin that couldn't leave her face, "Don't you remember the last time you tried wiping my mouth?"

"Well I'm asking this time." He said while holding the hankerchief up for her to see with his left hand in his pockets, "Please?"

"I can do it myself." Zhalia said as she reached forward for the hankerchief.

Quoc walked forward to give her the white cloth but as soon as he took a step, his shoes lost their grip on the wet floor from all the snow that he brought in earlier. As a result, he slipped backwards and onto the floor.

Zhalia held onto tightly to the hankerchief as Quoc fell back, but too tightly perhaps because she underestimated the force behind the pull and she too fell forward onto Quoc.

She opened her eyes to see a set of brown ones in front and a soft surface under her chest. The hankerchief was still clutched tightly in her hand along with Quoc's and she looked back to take see the more finer details that she couldn't have seen at a distance.

A few pimples was scattered near the the border of hair on his head while she could partially see her reflection on his glasses. A mini goatee was growing near his chin and hairs for a mustache that could easily be seen growing under Quoc's nostrils. His skin looked rough in comparisan to hers and his black tusseled hair was one to two inches long.

However, what intrigued Zhalia the most were his eyes. The brown eyes that she sees on a daily basis since the color was so common in the world but there was something about this one that she couldn't put her finger to. Something that made it stand out from the rest.

Quoc didn't realize that he had pulled Zhalia down with him as well as he felt a body on top of him. He figured that she would just let go of the hankerchief or he would let go but for some reason his grip was like iron almost. Quoc's back was aching from the hard fall and he knew that it would leave a bruise the next morning but that wasn't the reason why he was red.

Reason why he was red was Zhalia was looking at him so closely. Her flawless skin was partially covered by a lock of blue hair and hazel eyes that managed to connect together so well. Not only that but he could feel two orbs of flesh on his chest and they would move when Zhalia moved up a bit after planting a hand for support right beside Quoc's face.

"Umm do you mind Zhalia?" Quoc asked uncomfortably, not knowing what to do in this kind of situation as his face slowly turned red.

Zhalia eyes widened, realized her position as she pushed herself up quickly before dusting herself off. She looked the other to try and hide her slowly reddening face from embaressment while trying to look nonchalant.

"Thank you." Quoc said while pushing himself up and rubbing his back in pain, "I've got to mop up this puddle or else someone else might slip."

"Yeah you should." Zhalia said in a not so serious tone why rubbing her arm, "Anyway I'm just gonna go to bed."

"Oh, sure!" He said while grabbing a mop and bucket from the supply closet nearby, "The others should be finishing eating as well so I should get ready to clean up."

"Yeah." Zhalia breathed out before moving towards the entrance that led into the living room, "Catch you later."

"Wait!"

Zhalia turned around and saw Quoc leaning on the mop trying to look nonchalant. His legs crossed over each other and he rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Umm." He started while not meeting her gaze, "Sorry about what happened, you know, this morning."

"It's okay Quoc. I understand."

"You do?!" His eyes met hers almost instantly in suprise.

"I over reacted on my part so it's all okay." She said while waving a hand and giving him a genuine smile, "So don't worry about it too much."

"Okay, just making sure." Quoc said with a smile before going back to his cleaning, clearly in a brighter mood than before.

Zhalia shook her head at Quoc's innocence but smiled as she made her way up the stairs into her room.

She pulled out her sat phone and dialed Klaus's number to turn in her report but heard only static. Zhalia furrowed her eyebrows before trying again and found the same result. She checked the reception and was suprised to find that it had no signal despite it being pinged from a satellite.

After dropping the phone back into it's hiding spot, she walked over to the window side and free open the curtains to see just snow everywhere. The storm that Quoc was talking about earlier must've dropped down and probably messing up her connection as well.

Zhalia sighed before grabbing a change of clothes and a spare towel for her shower and made her way to the bathroom just a few steps away from her door.

 **Meanwhile**

Quoc let out a sigh of relief after he finished putting away the last dish and made his way upstairs. Man was his back sore from that fall but he was glad that he made up with Zhalia.

He rubbed a side of his head to clear and itch as he stopped by the bathroom to grab a q tip to clear out an even more bothersome itch from his ear. However, he didn't see that the light was on inside and that someone might've been inside.

The helper pushed his way through the door and kicked it closed behind him before rummaging in one of the drawers in the sink for the q tips.

The sound of a shower curtain opening made his head shoot up in attention and look towards the direction of the sound.

Zhalia wrapped her body in a towel up to her breasts after wrapping her hair in a sort of towel cocoon to dry and threw open the shower curtains, not hearing another sound other than running water.

What she didn't expect to find was a dumbstruck Quoc staring at her with a q tip in his hand. His face went through several expressions but it finally landed on dumbfoudness and a quickly reddening face.

Suprisingly, Zhalia's face started reddening as well as she stared back, not knowing what to say but she knew one thing. Their relationship wouldn't be the same as before.

Oh how right she was.

 **-X-**

 **A/N: FINALLY!**

 **This took me way too long to update and I finished a good portion of this in the middle of the night so I could get back to work on my other ff's.**

 **So a couple of reasons why this is so long overdue is because well its more of a side project and not really high on my prioty list (no offense). However, I never leave a story uncomplete so I decided to make this chapter a little bit longer ot try and make up for its absence. Not only that but I kinda got lazy when I got back from my vacation. XP**

 **Sorry SaraNero for such a late update and I'll try to come back to this story as often as I can but with school coming back it's gonna be alot harder for me to.**

 **With all of that said, if you have anymore questions feel free to drop a review or PM me.**

 **Thank you so much for all of those that stuck with this story and if you liked it don't forget to give it a follow, review, or a favorite would be much appreciated.**

 **Thank you everyone and I wish you all a good day.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: WELCOME BACK FOLKS.**

 **Before you guys start off I just want to say sorry for not updating in so long but with school, other stories being much more popular, and etc.**

 **Before I start, reviews:**

 **SaraNero: Thank you for that long review and thanks for the nice message XD**

 **Amelia: Sorry for the delay XD**

 **Now, we read:**

 **-X-**

"Umm," Quoc said while having the shame to give her a once over and a sheepish expression, "Nice legs?"

A well-placed sidekick sent him flying out and hitting the wall behind him as he scrambled away saying, "Sorry! Sorry!"

Zhalia slammed the door behind him before groaning into her hand at her luck to be found almost nude by the butler out of all people. Her father would laugh at her expense and the rest of the underworld mercenaries would be mocking her.

Still, seeing as how he didn't immediately fluster and left in a split second surprised her. He even had the balls to compliment her before she had to kick him out.

"Well what's done is done." Zhalia sighed as she changed into warmer sleepwear and made her way down to the living room. Where the entire group save for Tom and Cathy, who excused themselves for the night, gathered, drinking beverages served by Quoc.

He looked at her before quickly setting down a cup of tea in front of an open chair and left the room in a brisk, but unnoticeable pace. Zhalia smirked before sitting down in the comfy seat and took a small sip of the tea, enjoying it's unique flavor. Oh she was going to have fun toying with him.

"Well here's a rundown of the situation gang." Dante said as he opened up the Holotome and showed them an image of the draconic Titan that showed up at the museum, his wife sitting with him on the two man couch as Lok sat across from Sophie and Cherit hung on the arm of the seat, "Here's the an image of the Titan that we came across and it's stats. Holotome! Analyze!"

" **Scanning."** The marvel of modern technology beeped before pulling up an image of Huo, **"Titan Profile: Huo. Class: Unknown. Attack: 8. Defense: 6. Type: Legendary Sorcerer. Size: Large. Special Ability: Breath of Destruction."**

"Amazing." Lok breathed out as he stared at the floating image of the dragon in amazement, "That thing looks frickin awesome!"

"Well now that we know what it is, I'm pretty sure there's no questioning that it is one of the Oriental Guardians?" Sophie said with her arms crossed over her pajamas, sipping a cup of hot chocolate that Quoc had prepared for her Cherit, and Lok, "I mean, what other Titan could it be? The only other class that I could think of would be a Yama Class Titan but the Holotome said no."

"Well you're right little missy because the Holotome itself is always up to date with the most recent Titan findings." Zhalia said as she sipped on her cup of tea and ignored Sophie's small rant, "If it had shown up anywhere else in the world then the many branches of seekers would've noticed something and reported it in."

"Zhalia is right and there's also another reason why that Titan was indeed one of the Oriental Guardians." Dante said before pulling up another 3-D image of the cloaked man that had appeared with the draconic Titan, "This man right not only commanded the Titan but saved her as well with an Amulet given spell."

"Yeah he did." Lok said in realization before scratching his head in thought, "What was it called again?"

" **Guardian Art: Turtle's Defense."** Zhalia said while saying it again to Dante, "That was the spell that he used to save my life."

"That he did." Dante said while taking a swig of his coffee with a picture made out of cream at the top, "Not only that but I'm sure that the spell itself came with the Amulet that he had gotten."

"Are you sure Dante?" Lok said while setting down his cup and tried to cast it himself with his hands placed together as if he was going to say a prayer, **"Guardian Art: Turtle's Defense!"**

Nothing happened as everyone looked around and then back at Lok, who was still holding his hands together looking like a fool.

"Didn't I tell you that certain Amulets can give certain powers as well." Dante chuckled as Elizabeth giggled beside him, "The Oriental Guardians are no different."

"Right." Lok said sheepishly while scratching his head, "Well what else do we know about him?"

"See that's the thing Lok. Thank you." Dante said to Quoc, who had kindly gone around and refilled everyone's cup, "We don't know much about him. We don't know what he looks like, his motives, his background, his side, or anything really. All we know is that he wields the Oriental Guardian Amulets and his fighting ability is a force to be reckoned with."

"Well what's our next move?" Sophie asked while playing with Cherit a bit, "We can't just sit around here and burden Elizabeth's family anymore than we have to."

"Oh don't worry Sophie." Elizabeth assured with a small wave, "My parents are happy to have you all here. It's been quite lonely for them ever since I moved out."

"As for our next move." Dante said while pulling up a map of area around the museum, "I'd say we head back to the museum tomorrow morning and look around some more. The storm's too strong right now for us to tread through it."

"So what do we do for now?" Lok said while taking another biscuit from the tray that Quoc had set down earlier, "Just some R&R until the storm ends?"

"Basically." Date said before picking Elizabeth up in a princess hold and carried her towards their room, yelling back, "Mind getting those cups for me Quoc?! Thanks!"

"No problem sir!" Quoc said before swiftly collecting Elizabeth's and Dante's cup and brought them into the back for cleaning.

"Well it is necessary for us to rest after that battle if we want to get back up on our feet." Sophie said while standing up and motioned for Lok to follow her, "Cmon Lok. I'll teach you a few more spells and about America while we're at it."

"Aw more studying?" Lok said while getting up faster than one would do if they knew they were learning, especially for Lok, "Okay I'm coming."

"I'm going to take a nap in that little dog house that Tom had set up for me." Cherit yawned as he flapped his wings tiredly and flew across the room and out the door way.

"Well then." Quoc said as he entered the room and saw only Zhalia sitting on the sofas along with two other empty cups, "Looks like everyone's tired after lunch."

"More like dinner." Zhalia yawned as she stretched her arms out and took another long sip of her team, "With the looming cold, full stomachs, and warm beds. It's going to be a while until they wake up."

"Thank god." He sighed before sitting down on a random couch and stretched obnoxiously loud, "It's a lot harder to transition from serving three people to practically double it than I thought."

As soon as he finished saying that, an awkward silence came over the two as he played his fingernails and Zhalia finished her tea.

"Here let me get that for you." Quoc said while refilling her cup before filling his own cup, "I see that you're enjoying my specially brewed tea."

"It's decent." Zhalia said before savoring the next sip that she took, "It's definitely something that I've never tasted before."

"Well I'm glad that you like it!" Quoc beamed before his face dropped and his head hung in shame, "And sorry about you know, dropping in on you in the shower."

"It's okay." Zhalia waved him off while grabbing one of the cookies from the tray, blinking in surprise at the flavor of the biscuits, "I'm sure that you didn't do it on purpose. Also these things are intriguing."

"Oh these?!" He said while picking up a flower shaped biscuit on the edge of the platter and tossed it expertly into his mouth, "I always craved these when I was younger. Most likely because the containers they were in always used to hold sewing supplies for my mother rather than treats."

Zhalia tried to hold in a laugh but she couldn't and broke like a damn while Quoc looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry about that but that is one of the silliest things that I have ever heard of." Zhalia wheezed out as she wiped away a tear, "Using the containers for something other than cookies? She couldn't have bought a box to put it in?"

"Guess she didn't want to spend the extra dollar to buy one. I don't know." He shrugged before swallowing, "But it did ruin a few childhood memories debating whether or not a container had cookies or not."

"Oh my god that is hilarious." Zhalia said as she set her cup of tea down, "But you know things in the world don't come free right?"

"What-oh." Quoc said as he nodded with his hands on his knees, "Well what do you want? If it's cash then I can give you-"

"No not like that." Zhalia said before crossing her legs over the other and gave him a curious look, "Rather I want you."

"Pardon?" He said with a confused expression and light blush, "Umm I don't-"

"Well I want to learn more about you of course." She said while moving her sweater down a little bit, exposing a small section of her top, "You are an … abnormal person. If there was a word to describe you."

"Thanks." He chuckled before laying back onto the comfortable couch, "Well what do you want to know?"

"Well first off, who or what are you?" Zhalia asked, "You don't appear to be normal and you sure as hell don't act like it either."

"Well my full name is Quoc Dinh and almost twenty years old. Immigrant with green card earned with my father a citizen." He said while waving an imaginary card, "I'm a college student looking for my degree and sort of part-time butler/caretaker of this household."

"Well I'm Zhalia Moon, explorer, twenty five, and part of this little seeker squad." She introduced herself briefly, "Nice to meet you."

"Well you're looking good for twenty-five." He commented with a little smile.

Zhalia coughed into her cup of tea before looking at him with wide eyes. The last thing that she had expected for him to do was flirt with her.

"Thank you." Zhalia said formally before averting her eyes away from him and looked back, asking, "Well what are your hobbies then?"

"Well it's more of the typical stuff that you would see from most people." Quoc said as he shrugged and took another sip of his tea, "Reading, sleeping, listening to music, and the works. What about you?"

"Same here." Zhalia answered truthfully, "Only difference is that I like to be on my own at times. I like to keep to myself."

"Well I might keep to myself." He said with a grin before looking up to the ceiling blissfully, "But I like being with friends more because, well, friends are nice to have for for those harsh times. You know?"

"Yep." Zhalia lied smoothly without skipping a beat, remembering no one other than Klaus being there for her whenever she was young.

"Now that I think about, you never really talk about your parents." Quoc said, giving her a questioning look, "Dante, Sophie, and even Lok talk about their parents from time to time. But you, you haven't said a word. Personal problems or…"

"Well-"

The lights above them suddenly blinked on and off before completely turning off as she snapped to attention and looked around for any threats.

"Woah, woah, chill!" Quoc said as he got up and flipped the light switch a few times, "It's probably the breaker down in the basement. I'll go check it out."

"Quoc honey what's going on?" Elizabeth asked as she ran out of her room and found him, "Is there something wrong with the power?"

"Probably just the breaker Elizabeth." He said before opening the basement door after grabbing a flashlight, "I'll go check on it right now."

He disappeared down into the basement while Elizabeth grabbed a few portable heaters and put them in everyone's room.

"Thank you." Zhalia muttered as the cold started getting to her despite the fact that the heater just went out.

"It's no problem." Elizabeth said as she flipped the switch onto the portable heater, "I wouldn't want any of my guests to feel uncomfortable just because it's cold outside. Well I have to go and hear the others."

"Wait!"

The brunette turned around with a heater in her hands and asked, "Yes?"

"Sorry about giving you the cold shoulder these past few days." Zhalia blurted out while rubbing her shoulder in embarrassment, "It's just that-"

"You used to like Dante as well?"

Zhalia's eyes widened at how fast she caught on before nodding.

"Well my husband tends to have that reaction to most girls that he meets." Elizabeth giggled before cracking her knuckles against the wall next to her, "Perhaps it's time for another remedial lesson."

"Anyway I'm sorry for being rude these past few days." Zhalia said while moving the heater closer to her, not looking at the brunette, "Just wanted to get that off my mind."

"How old are you Zhalia?"

"Umm." She started out until she recognized the question, "I'm twenty five Elizabeth. How about you?"

"I'm nearing my mid thirties." She said sheepishly while massaging her face, "Not too shabby huh?"

"Not at all Elizabeth." Zhalia answered before hopping into bed, "Hopefully Quoc can get the power back up soon."

"Speaking of which, you and Quoc are becoming quite chummy aren't you?" Elizabeth teased her, "I see you two talking from inside the kitchen."

"What are you talking about Elizabeth." Zhalia said as she brushed the thought of her and Quoc ever dating, "As if I would date him."

"Well from one girl to another," Elizabeth said with a sly smile while closing the door, "He's a great man."

Zhalia heard the door close and she settled down into the warming covers thanks to the heater. There was no way that she could ever date him. Two different people with two different lives. There would be no way.

She wrapped the covers around her and closed her eyes.

Not even a few minutes later a loud literal boom woke her up out of bed and onto the cold hard floor in alert.

"Oh my god are you okay?!"

"Get some water!"

"Everyone I'm okay!" A very familiar voice said, coughing a few times in the process, "Just some electrical failure and shock therapy. Ugh. Of the intense kind too."

Zhalia quickly opened the door and went downstairs to see Quoc with his hair sticking up and partly burning and Dante and Elizabeth attending to him.

"What happened?!" She said while patting out the small bush fire on his head.

"Long story short, it's not the breaker that's the problem." Quoc said as he slapped himself back to reality, "I think one of the power lines are down because one moment there was no power and then BOOM! I got shocked."

"Well the powers still out." Elizabeth said while flicking the light switch up and down, "And with this storm it's going to be a while until the power company sends a repair crew."

"Well those portable heaters aren't going to last long." Dante said while walking towards the coat hanger for his jacket, "I'll go and see if I can fix it-"

"Don't worry about it sir." Quoc said as he pulled him back with surprising strength and was already dressed, "I have more experience with this kind of stuff so I won't be long."

"But-"

"I'll be fine Elizabeth." He said while opening the door and a gust of cold air filled the room. He stepped over a few inches of snow that blocked his way before waving them a goodbye and closed the door with a loud slam.

"Honey how can you let him go out there on his own?" Dante asked his wife, "He's too young to be there out on his own to fix a faulty electrical line."

"Well he's the best option that we have right now to keep my parents safe." Elizabeth scolded before walking towards her parents room, "They may be tough but also old. I don't want them to pass away from pneumonia because I forgot to turn on the heater."

"Honey that's not what I met. Gah." Dante said before turning towards Zhalia and asked, "Can you do me a favor and go help that kid with whatever he needs? The faster the power comes back on the better."

"I got him." Zhalia said while putting on her winter coat, "Plus I was planning on a small walk after lunch anyway to burn off the calories."

"Thanks." He said while turning towards Elizabeth's parents room and joined his lover.

Zhalia shook her head and pried open the door to quickly close it again after a wall of cold air smacked her in the face.

" _Well this is lovely."_ Zhalia muttered under her breath as she bundled up a little bit more and bravely trekked outside with the blizzard battering down onto her.

She made it out of the front porch before the snow sank up to her thighs and the storm kept on bringing more.

"Quoc! Quoc!" Zhalia called out as she raised her hand above her forehead to try and see through the snow falling, "Where are you!"

She heard no response before trekking further to a spot where she remembered seeing a transformer. However, the raging storm blocked off her vision as she slowly made her journey through a feet of snow.

A bright spark to the corner of her eye caught Zhalia's attention as she turned and saw the tall wooden pole holding the transformer pole. At the top, she saw a cloaked figure messing with the lines extending to the house.

"You there!" Zhalia called out, "What are you doing!"

The figure turned as even in the dense snow she recognized the person as the man from the museum.

"Sanda no!"

Zhalia turned to her side to see a bright blue light and a shocking pain arch through her body and her vision went dark.

 **A/N: Alright last update of the year folks.**

 **Sorry for leaving this Fanfic off for so long but my other stories are more popular and they are in a much higher demand than this one so yeah.**

 **Not much to say than that but to let you all know that I won't update this story as much as the others since it's not as popular but I won't discontinue this.**

 **So this is the last update of 2017 and it's been a decent update.**

 **Anyway, Happy New Year folks and I wish you all a great night.**


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